


Parasite

by mega_peach



Category: Among Us (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Happy Ending, LGBTQ Character, M/M, Mira HQ (Among Us), Non-binary character, Polus (Among Us), The Skeld (Among Us)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 11:16:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 20
Words: 52,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28937628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mega_peach/pseuds/mega_peach
Summary: After a failed mission four years prior, Mira sends another twelve astronauts to the faraway planet, Polus, to study parasites; the most unknown and deadliest alien species known to man. These creatures hold a lot of mysteries, and Captain Red and the rest of The Skeld crew are eager to start researching. However, White discovers something onboard that might halt those plans. Yellow puts her own desires over the safety of her crewmates, and later discovers what fear truly is. Will the crew make it out alive?There is a lot of violence later in the story, so please read at your own risk.
Relationships: Yellow/Cyan
Kudos: 8





	1. The Skeld

The shy sun was shining behind the clouds of Earth’s stratosphere, it’s soft heat radiating onto the Mira HQ skyscraper. It’s light reflected across Mira’s newest mechanical beauty, The Skeld, which was the second model of its kind. It’s purpose was to bring a few of the most qualified astronauts on a mission to research alien life on the planet Polus. The same astronauts that were boarding it, around 11:24 AM on that cloudy Saturday morning. 

There were twelve crew members in total, each corresponding to a color. There was Red, the captain. Orange, a researcher. Yellow, the scientist. Lime, the medic. Green, a rookie. Cyan, the co-captain. Blue, the electrician. Pink, the apprentice medic. Purple, a scientist. Brown, the head of communications. Black, a researcher. And finally, White, the engineer. As they all awkwardly stood in front of a big crowd of journalists and news anchors, they were shuffled up the stairs and into the metal spacecraft of The Skeld.

Yellow was eager to get there. It was her life mission to get into space, and she wasn’t about to let some slow losers get in her way. She tied her messy golden hair into a tight ponytail, and ran up the stairs with her suitcase in hand. She then stopped at a girl with a light blue spacesuit. It caught her eye, as she looked somewhat sad. Yellow wasn’t about to just run past her, she cleared her throat, “Ahem, since we’re about to spend the next few years together, we might as well know our names first, hehe?” The girl looked shocked and surprised. Yellow awkwardly added, “I’m Yellow Holdt. From San Francisco? California? USA?” 

The girl glared with a look of confusion, “Oh, hello… I’m Cyan…” She said nervously. Yellow figured she was just shy.

Yellow sighed, “Well, I suppose everyone probably knows where California is... Shoot...” She then quickly glanced at Cyan’s flag on her upper arm. The Canadian flag. She looked back up at her, and she still had a cold expression. “You’re from Canada, huh? You live with polar bears or something?”

Cyan laughed. Yellow wasn’t sure if it was with her or at her. “Yeah. Ontario, Ottawa. Nice to meet you, Yellow, but I gotta hurry. I’ll see you on the ship.” She saluted quickly, and ran off with her bag.

Yellow looked back down at a list with eleven other names. With a pencil in her pocket, she crossed off ‘Cyan’. “One acquaintance down, ten more... to go,” Yellow said. She let out a breath of disappointment, “I was never good at making friends...” She then put the crumpled paper back into her pocket and quickly climbed into the ship. Lime followed behind her, then Brown, then Orange, then the rest of the crewmates, all lugging their suitcases up the stairs and into the giant metal door.

As Captain Red started climbing the steep stairs into the metal lobby, he could sense the sight of cameras behind him. He turned around. “Ugh, what again,” he mumbled to himself.

“And that’s Captain Red, everyone! The new, young, and mohawked captain of The Skeld!” A reporter said, cameraman behind them. There was an audience taking up the entire space of the launchpad. Journalists cheered. One journalist tried to get close to Red, asking what the mission was for, exactly. Another asked if they could see Yellow. Another asked if he knew how to pilot The Skeld. Another asked for his hair routine. 

Red chuckled, “This mission is to discover life in space, nothing else.” There was more, he just didn’t want to talk, and if he revealed the truth, it would cause mass hysteria, anyway. “Goodbye, and farewell! See you in a year, or whatever!” He enthusiastically said, waving to the crowd. He turned around quickly, and slipped inside The Skeld.

Two Mira employees closed the heavy doors behind all of the crewmates, and then ushered the audience back into the Mira HQ building. 

Red, with his chin up, walked over to the laptop inside the room, facing his fellow crewmates. It was a lobby with benches on the sides, and big metal crates in the middle. Everyone was silent and huddled together, but awkwardly inching away from each other. 

“Hey, everyone. Well, nice day, today?” It was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. Red frowned, but got himself together, “Alright. I’m Captain Red! I will be commanding the ship and spending most of my time in Navigations. I’m basically your leader, but I will have a helper. Cyan?”

Cyan stood up, and took a nervous breath, “It’s nice to be working with you, Captain Red.” She spun around, slid next to him, and took a deep breath to talk, “Everyone, I’m the Captain-in-training. That means I will be helping Red with duties, and also keeping track of what tasks you are all doing. In your pockets, there should be a small tablet that gives you details on the map of the ship, our mission, and details on your tasks. We are all pulling our own weight around here.”

Yellow scoffed and crossed her arms. Cyan met her eyes with hers. “Do you have a problem, Yellow? I didn’t expect you to act that way, considering you seemed like a nice person from your... great introduction.” 

Everyone in the room peeked to look at Yellow. Her entire face flared red. “No, no! I’m completely fine! I’m just... not used to doing chores, that’s all! I… I’m a youngest child! What am I even saying...” She nervously muttered, covering her face from embarrassment.

Cyan sighed and shook her head, “Shall we continue?” Everyone stopped looking at Yellow and relaxed. All of them nodded. “Everyone, get your tablets out. We’ll talk about the mission next.”

Raising up their tablet, Pink shouted. “I have electrical tasks? I don’t even know how to screw a lightbulb…” 

Cyan put a hand on Pink’s shoulder, “You’re completely fine, that’s why we have specialists here. Blue is the electrician, so if you need any help, go to him.” She backed up, “Are there any more questions?”

Red then quickly stepped in, “I think they know what to do, Cyan. It’s pretty self explanatory and the tablet is pretty easy to use. Now, about the mission. It’s a year-long mission to planet Polus. Two months will be spent on our course, eight months will be spent researching on Polus, and two months will be spent flying back. At Polus, we will investigate and contain a newly discovered parasitic creature. It’s scary, but if we do this right, the creature will no longer be a threat to space explorers and we will be able to-“ 

Brown laughed and stood up straight in his seat, crossing his legs and arms. “That parasitic creature? I heard it can shapeshift. The last explorers who had this mission all died, that’s why Mira is sending us out, because they didn’t finish the mission. The parasite hid in plain sight as an impostor. Killed everyone on board. Oh, I guess Mira didn’t tell you that, Red?” He said, staring at Red, with a proud yet mischievous face.

In complete silence, Red stopped completely in his words.

“I was _going_ to tell the crew that. Thanks for interrupting me, Brown. But, yes. That is true. The last team sent to Polus... never returned. That was four years ago. But don’t fret, everyone. Mira has developed new hazmat suits, new decontamination technology, and a new Specimen Room that will be impossible for anything to escape. We are completely safe, everyone,” Red reassured. The thing is, he didn’t completely believe what he was saying.

White let out a breath of frustration, “You’re all forgetting something. Not all of the previous Polus crew died. I survived.” He looked up at Red with a determined face. Gasps and surprised murmurs could be heard. Everyone could tell he’d been through a lot. “I know you’re new, Red, but I’m the true veteran here. I escaped that bloody ship on a pod. There were only two. I destroyed the other so the parasite could rot alone and not make it’s way to Earth.” White started to tear up, and multiple people scooched beside him to comfort the lonely astronaut, “I don’t like talking about it, but I would like you to at least acknowledge my sufferings.” 

Red was flabbergasted and at a loss for words. Stuttering, he mustered, “I… I’m sorry, White. I can’t imagine how that felt, to leave all of your crewmates behind.” Red looked down. He couldn’t even imagine what losing that many people felt like. “Apologies… I promise, we will contain this creature and prevent it from causing more ruckus for Mira, and for the world,” He said. Paused, he surveyed the room. This was his family now. “You know, I think you’ll make a great teammate,” he told White, smiling.

Lime’s face became a flushed grey, “Th-thanks for that s-story Red... and Brown… and… and Whi-“ She passed out and collapsed into the seat next to her, onto Purple.

“Lime!” Purple shouted, catching her in her arms. Everyone immediately came to aid her, except Red, who was still frozen from surprise. 

“We probably shouldn’t have revealed that much about the parasite, it could’ve been shocking to some people?” Everyone looked at Red with expressions of confusion and annoyance.

“Looks like this is gonna be a long ride...” He sighed. “Pink and Purple, take Lime to the Medbay and let her rest. We have a big day ahead of us.”


	2. Liftoff

—— SATURDAY, 12:35 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

The sound of talking and chatting echoed throughout the lobby. Every crewmate was anxious to lift-off. Some because of excitement, some because of the fact that they might not make it out of this mission alive. 

Black stood up and headed over to an old friend, “Hey, Orange. Long time, no see. How has college been to you?” Orange immediately looked up from his tablet and smiled. “Well, look who it is! Haha!” They both bumped their hands into a secret handshake and hugged. “It’s good to see you,” Black said. 

Green bent over to see what the commotion was, and was kind of confused, “So, how do you guys know each other?”

“Oh, we met at a Mira Youth Convention about a year ago. It’s basically an event where they try to convince the new generation to get a job with Mira. But hey, it worked!” Orange enthusiastically bantered.

Black snickered, “We were troublemakers there, though. We sabotaged one of the assemblies with some of our other friends we met there. It was so much fun.”

Green looked down. He’d never had a friendship like that. He was only on this mission to help his brother, Brown. Even then, Brown was always doing his own things at home, leaving Green on his own. He sadly sighed, “You guys must be best friends, huh. I’ve never had friends like you guys. Video games were my only escape.” 

Black smiled, “Oh yeah! You’re Brown’s nerdy brother! Can you tell me about some of the coding you’ve done, later? I’ve always wanted to know how you make a game!”

Green was quickly perplexed with a shocked expression. He lifted his head and yelled, “Y-Yes! Of course! I’ll tell you all about it! You’re the first one who’s actually been curious about it!” He grinned with joy.

—— SATURDAY, 1:02 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

Yellow was anticipating something. She didn’t know what, but she was nervous to lift off. _When are we going? What’s taking so long? Is anybody gonna acknowledge this? Where’s Red?_ She thought to herself. Anxiously, she stared across the room, looking at rank badges, flags, hair, anything that could distract her. She then leaned over to the man with the German flag, White. She asked him with a shaky tone in her voice, “Hey, do you know when we’re gonna take off?”

White shrugged. He turned off his tablet and leaned back into the bench, “Red is doing something. I don’t know what, but when we’re ready, I think he’ll come over onto the intercom and tell us to sit tight. That’s what Cyan said, anyway.”

Yellow was even more nervous now, “When’s that even gonna happen?! Where is Cyan, anyway?”

White laughed, “Did you even listen to her introduction? She’s with Red!”

Yellow groaned and put her face into her hands. When is this day gonna get over with? Just as she was about to take a stretch break, Purple, Pink, and an exhausted but alive Lime entered the room. A crackling sound began chiming from the intercom speakers. Everyone stopped conversing and looked up. 

“Hello everyone, this is Captain Red-“

“And Cyan.”

“...And Cyan. We are about to take off in five minutes. I am truly sorry for not telling you sooner, Mira HQ was having some communication problems previously, but I can assure you, it’s all fixed now. If you haven’t looked at your lift-off procedures on your tablet, please do so now and follow the instructions.”

Everyone made sure to sit down, buckle their seatbelts, put their helmets on, and check if they were in a safe position.

“I’m turning on the reactors and engines now. Once we are in a safe trajectory into outer space, I will chime in again and allow you to stand up and take off your helmet. We will have a meeting in the Cafeteria after the lift-off, for a nice hot cocoa bonanza! Doesn’t that sound nice, Cyan?”

“Sure does, Captain.”

“Alright, see you all on the other side.” 

The intercoms clicked off. Purple was smiling with delight, “Finally!” she whispered. 

Blue grunted, “Oh, God… I’m not ready for this,” He closed his eyes and clenched his fists around the safety straps on his chest.

The Skeld, which was rested on the Mira HQ launchpad, spread its mechanical wings and jet blasters. A cloud of smoke and steam surrounded the entire ship until it wasn’t visible from the station. Scorching blue fire emitted from the bottom of the ship, and the rippling noise of the ship blared, which made the reporters watching from the inside of Mira HQ cover their ears for dear life. Eventually, The Skeld was off the station and quickly rocketing into the earth’s upper atmosphere. The ship rumbled and rumbled, making it so the only thing you heard was the wind, metal, and the chattering of teeth. Everyone was uncomfortably holding on to their safety buckles and straps, but some were beaming from excitement. After about ten excruciating minutes soaring upwards into orbit, The Skeld was finally off of Earth. The hum of the ship’s gravity stabilizers started, and the sound of multiple exhausted breaths commenced. 

“That was one heck of a ride,” Pink tiredly but happily gasped.

Lime sighed, “No kidding. If the trip was maybe five seconds longer, I would’ve passed out again.”

White chuckled, “Oh please, Pink. Once you get to my age, you get used to it. I’ve been on at least twenty missions, and I’m not even thirty yet.”

The ship was stable, and the crew was finally on their way to Polus.


	3. Hello, Fellow Crewmates

The doors to the lobby opened, and Red and Cyan walked through. All of the crewmates took off their helmets and unbuckled to get out of their seats. Black stood up, but stumbled around dizzily to their surprise.

“Huh? I expected space to be floaty. How do we have gravity on here?” Black sat right back down and wiped off the sweat on their forehead.

“Mira was the first space organization to develop gravity technology on a spaceship,” Red explained, smiling like he was proud, “It feels like you’re on Earth here. And, your height won’t change, like being on a zero gravity ship would.”

Black laughed, “Aw man, I’ve always wanted to be taller.”

Cyan looked around the room, “Looks like we’re all intact,” she acknowledged. “Well then, shall we meet in the cafeteria?” She turned around and waved at the crewmates to follow her. They all followed in a crowd behind her and Red. Through the lobby door, there was a staircase that led right to the Cafeteria. Red stopped, slid his keycard, and the doors to the Cafeteria floor opened. They all stepped up and scattered around the room to take a seat. Red got up at the front of the room, and stood hovering over a button on one of the tables. 

“Alright, everyone. How was the ride? We’ll now be spending about 63 days flying until we arrive at Polus. I see some of you are tired, no worries. The locker room and sleeping quarters are attached to the lobby that you were just in. Until The Skeld needs upkeeping, you are free to roam around the ship and do whatever you like,” Red stopped, and with a sigh, he raised up his hand to itch his beard in thought. “You might be wondering why I’m standing in front of this big button.” He stepped to the side so that everyone could see. “This is the emergency meeting button. If anything goes wrong, or you need to talk to everyone at once, push this. Unfortunately, the previous crew didn’t have this button. Mind you, it’s for emergencies only. Do I make myself clear?” Everyone in the room shrugged and nodded, and Red cleared his throat, “Since you are the task keeper, Cyan, come up here and explain our routine.”

Cyan, standing up from next to Yellow and Blue, weaved through the round tables and stood next to Red. Pulling out the tablet from her pocket, she addressed the entire group. Before opening her mouth, Yellow whispered to Blue, _“Hey, when is the hot cocoa ready?”_

Blue leaned in over the table, _“I think it’s ready once the slow one stops talking,”_ he replied.

Cyan raised her head in anger. Holding in tears, she yelled, “Blue! You take that back before I eject you out of here!” Yellow slapped Blue in the arm, but some crewmates were holding in giggles. 

Red was visibly frustrated, _I’ve never seen a more immature group in my life. So much for Mira’s ‘engaging the youth’ plan… But I gotta admit, they’re all pretty charming,_ He thought to himself, _Get it together, Cyan…_

Cyan, with the tablet in her hands, passive-aggressively announced, “Okay, now that Blue has shut his mouth, time to discuss what we’ll be doing for two months straight. Everyday, you’ll have new tasks in your taskbar, and you’ll be spending each day helping the ship stay afloat,” for a second, she snickered. “Doesn’t that sound fun, Yellow?”

“You’re right, it does. I love trying to survive.” Yellow replied, forcing a grin.

“If you need any help with your tasks, go to a specialist. Remember, Blue can help with electrical, Lime can help with Medbay, Red and I can help with Navigations, and Brown can help with Communications. The rest can be learned and figured out yourself,” Cyan said. Turning off her tablet, she shivered, “Man, it can get pretty cold in the middle of space even with a big spacesuit. Who’s ready for something hot to drink?”

Everyone stood up and stretched, and many walked over to the kitchen immediately for their hot cocoa bonanza, paid for in full by Mira. Yellow, grabbing a cup, sat back down in her seat next to Cyan, who was writing on paperwork. 

“Hey. Um, I’m really sorry about Blue earlier. You realize that I don’t think you’re dumb or anything, right?” Yellow admitted.

Cyan almost spit out her cocoa. Laughing, she replied, “You’re so uptight. Relax, it isn’t that serious. It was pretty funny.”

Yellow sighed with relief, “Okay then. I’m just trying to be on good terms with everyone here, you see. Although, Purple has been getting on my nerves all day, and White has been… Suspicious.”

Cyan, confused, put down her pen and looked at Yellow, “What do you mean _suspicious?_ ”

They both peered over at the table White was sitting at. He was alone, but reading a large book with weird text on the cover that they couldn’t understand. He noticed them, but Cyan and Yellow immediately looked away. 

“Okay, that's kinda weird,” Cyan said nervously, “I see your point.” 

Yellow turned to Blue, who was on his phone, and asked, “Hey Blue, what do you think?” 

“About what?” Blue said, shutting off his phone and putting it into his pocket.

Yellow looked back at the table where White was, and made sure to lower her voice, “About White. Think about it. He’s been around the parasite before, and you never know. The parasite could be on this ship, just like it was on Mira’s other one.”

Blue took in the information, and rested his hand on his chin. “Hmm… I suppose it’s possible, but you shouldn’t be too worried. We were all decontaminated at HQ before lift off. Don’t worry about it, guys,” Blue said.

Yellow and Cyan glanced back at each other, at White, and back at Blue. Cyan sighed and relaxed, and told Yellow to not worry too much. It wasn’t right to falsely accuse someone without any strong information. 

“I guess you’re right,” Yellow said. White started to seem normal to her now. He had moved to another table, discussing something with Pink and Black, anyway. She was tempted to go over to his book, but she quickly stopped the urge to. For the rest of the bonanza, Yellow stared at the window, looking at the stars. Earth was now a tiny dot, as far as she could tell. _The Skeld sure is fast,_ she thought to herself, _how far away is Polus, anyway?_ Right before she was about to space off, Yellow felt a tap on her shoulder. Turning around quickly, she was surprised to see Cyan standing there.

“Wanna explore the ship?” Cyan suggested.

Yellow was surprised that she was being this friendly. “Don’t you have a job to do? With Red or something?” She snarled, sounding a bit annoyed. 

“Nope,” Cyan assured, “Today, we can all relax and get used to outer space. Since the others all left, and you’re still in here zoning off, I figured you needed help or something.”

Yellow sighed and got up from her seat tiredly, “I wasn’t planning on it, but sure,” she said, grinning.


	4. Suspicions Arise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a warning, there is a little violence at the end, and it gets pretty graphic. Read at your own risk.

—— SATURDAY, 3:59 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

Walking down the hallway from the Cafeteria, Cyan helped Yellow around, giving her a tour of The Skeld. They passed the Admin room, Storage, and made it to Communications, where Black, Orange, Green, and Brown were all playing a video game on one of the computers. Black was yelling about some kind of code. Brown and Green were arguing about picking a map. Orange looked over at Yellow and Cyan, and smiled. He tried to signal them to ‘get over here,’ but they both nodded no and continued to Shields. They stopped at the door to Navigations, where Yellow examined the door up and down. She smiled. “You think Red’s in here?” She asked Cyan.

Cyan quickly put her hand on Yellow’s shoulder and told her, “Let’s not disturb Red, I noticed he’s been more stressed since we left Earth. He has a lot of work to do, anyway.” 

“Coward,” Yellow replied, looking at that shiny closed door. The keycard panel had ‘Open’ glowing in green on it. Her inner child immediately took control. She grinned mischievously. 

Cyan let go, and growling with frustration she shot back, “I… I’m not a coward! I’m just respectful! Come on, Yellow, let Red do his work in silence.” She tried pulling on Yellow’s arm, but Yellow wasn’t listening. She ignored everything that Cyan said, and barged into the door, sliding it open. Immediately, her jaw dropped. Expecting to see Red, (and expecting to annoy him in the process), Yellow was greeted with the empty seat of Navigations, and the view of space above it.

“Wow. This view is incredible!” Yellow marveled. Above the navigation deck, there was a giant panel of curved glass at the very helm of the ship, giving anyone behind it the ability to view the journey through space in a new perspective. It was like a moving painting, with colorful stars, planets, and asteroids creating the illusion of streaks on a canvas. Yellow stared at the passing cosmos, struck with awe. 

“So this is what you and Red see every day, huh,” she wondered, still admiring the vastness of outer space. Looking back at Cyan at the back of the room, she was leaning on the side of the door, arms crossed, smiling. Yellow then realized that she was still on a tour, and taking up time. She scrambled and hopped back over to her. “Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner? I wanna have Nav tasks every day now!” She told Cyan joyfully. 

Cyan giggled, and sighed. “Well, not many people are interested in that. They just see the stars and go ‘That’s cool.’ instead of admiring it, like you. You’re one of the only people I’ve met that has a curiosity for that kind of stuff, which isn’t a bad thing at all,” she said, while arriving at Weapons with Yellow.

After a quick argument about if Yellow could shoot randomly out of the weapons blaster for fun, (and Cyan taking down that idea immediately), they both strolled across the Cafeteria and into Medbay, where they saw Pink and Lime testing out the scanner. They wandered through Upper Engine, Reactor, Security, Lower Engine, Electrical, and were almost back at Storage. Before making it back to the Cafeteria, Yellow stopped to ask Cyan, “So, Nav is where you work. Do you think we’ll see each other a lot? I mean, just because I was wondering who I’ll be working with the most! Nothing too serious… I mean, I barely know you.” She scratched her head and thought to herself, _Great. Nice social skills, Yellow. So charismatic._ _Now the co-captain thinks you’re an idiot._ She tried to control the urge to slap herself in the forehead.

“Of course!” Cyan replied joyfully, looking back at Yellow. “I’m the helper of tasks, remember? I have to pay attention to everyone. Besides, you’re a scientist. Your main goal here is to research at Polus, not stay in one place in the ship like a specialist would. I doubt we wouldn’t see each other, at least in the hallways!”

Yellow beamed with surprise. “Oh, you think so?” She stopped walking for a second. Cyan kept walking, but she noticed that she was far ahead of Yellow now. “Is there something wrong?” She asked. 

Yellow looked up. Blushing, she replied, “No, not at all,” while running up to catch her friend. As they kept strolling through the halls, laughter and happiness was the only thing that anyone could hear, echoing through the ship.

—— SATURDAY, 11:57 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

In Electrical sat Blue, alone in the dark behind the walls of circuits reading a book. It was titled _The Conflicts of Luke and Max; New World Troubles! Part One._ It was an old writing from the 2020’s that Blue had inherited from somewhere in the family. As he reached Chapter twenty in his engaging novel, he realized that someone was walking towards the Electrical room. Putting his book down on the ground, Blue stood up and peered over the wall corner. To his surprise, it was a short and nervous Pink, standing right in front of him.

“Hello, sir!” Pink joyfully grinned up at Blue, who was towering over them.

Blue signed and rubbed his forehead, “Let me guess, you need help with some wiring? A lightbulb?” Even if Blue _was_ a specialist, he really only wanted to become an electrician. Not a teacher or helper. _What does this kid want?_ He thought to himself.

“Look kid, you can figure out simple stuff on the internet, you don’t need me for that,” turning around, he got his book from off the ground, “Now if you excuse me, I’ll get back to reading my book…“ Before Blue was able to sit back down, Pink walked over to him hastily, being careful to avoid tripping on the wires on the ground.

“ _The Conflicts of Luke and Max; New World Troubles! Part One._ I assume you’re at chapter twenty. Nobody can just interrupt on a man reading chapter twenty. Good chapter,” Pink proclaimed, crossing their arms in pride, “I know some stuff about the classics, you know.”

Blue grunted. _Looks like this kid knows some stuff,_ he realized. He asked Pink what they were up to. They leaned in closer and started staring into what seemed like Blue’s soul, which made him slightly uneasy. Pink then glanced side to side and behind the wall. Getting a slip out of their pocket, they handed it to Blue discreetly. They told him, “Brown and I have seen you read. We think you know some stuff. You have pretty good taste, and we think you’re fit for our Book Club.” 

Blue, grabbing the slip of paper from Pink, surveyed the card. It had the words ‘ _Book Club. Meet on Wednesday night/Thursday morning, 12 AM Skeld Time. Discussions. Thoughts. Alliance. - Brown’_ printed onto it. After reading it for a few seconds, Pink looked back at Blue, glanced at him, and turned around. In a hushed tone, they told him, “Keep this on the low, but just so you know, we will make enemies. This is a commitment.” And as quickly as they arrived, Pink had left the room.

Blue stared at the shadows from the hallway, making sure Pink was no longer in the proximity. He told himself, “These people are not to be trusted. I am on a life or death mission here…” He paused, “...but maybe I do have some time for a Book Club!” He sat back down, pulled his tablet out from his pocket, and went to the calendar app to mark down the time for the first Book Club meeting. “It’s Saturday night right now... So in four days then?” He turned off the tablet and slouched against the wall. “You’ve got my back, Pink,” he said, reaching over for his novel.

—— SUNDAY, 2:38 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

Purple, slouching in the seat in front of the security systems, watched the cameras carefully. She considered herself the most apprehensive and careful person on the ship, and she wasn’t wrong. Something about The Skeld unsettled her. The lack of information Mira gave her before the mission should be illegal, and the ship itself always felt cold and empty. Not temperature wise, but something about it just felt off. 

She intensely watched every second the cameras were recording, but could see nothing alarming. Before standing up, she noticed that Cyan and Green had walked in the room and were standing at the entrance. Cyan opened her mouth to talk, but Purple immediately interrupted her, saying, “Where’s your little girlfriend, Cyan? Is that psychopath brainwashing other crewmates, too?”

Cyan growled, and with an annoyed look on her face, replied, “What? We’re just friends. Where did you even get the idea that we were more than that?” She looked over Purple’s shoulder and saw the glow of multiple computer screens that showed every display of the ship. Angrily, Cyan scowled, “Ah, so you were spying on us?” 

Purple chuckled and shook her head, looking back at the screens. “It was more of keeping watch for suspicion, that’s all,” she said, grinning back at Cyan.

Cyan inhaled, and glanced back at Green. “We’re just here to see if you wanted to hang out with us, maybe play some video games in Comms?” She asked. Purple was unamused and had a stubborn look on her face. Cyan continued, “We haven’t really seen each other a lot, and I think it’s a good idea to break the ice before working together for a year.” 

Although Cyan offered up a pretty fun time, (more fun than watching security cameras all night), Purple still was hesitant. She kept glancing at the computers, to Cyan, to Green, and back at the security system. Anxiously, she asked, “What about security? Who’s gonna watch for…anything sus?”

Cyan laughed at Purple’s comment, and pestered her to follow her and Green. She was still unamused, as normal, but she kept following them to Communications, where three controllers were waiting next to the computers. For the first time in a while, Purple finally felt safe. She had got over her suspicions, but the unattended security cameras meant that anything could happen now, without a single soul knowing.

—— SUNDAY, 10:46 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

The upper level of The Skeld was silent. Most lights were out, and all of the crewmates were in the sleeping quarters asleep, except for one lonely astronaut reading an engineering manual in the reactor room. White. Ever since lift-off, the reactor had been having issues and was refusing to start sometimes. Laying on the cold metal floor, he let out a big sigh and set down the 400-page book. Getting up, he whispered to himself, “I’ll figure this out later.”

He turned around and closed the doors to the Reactor room, and that’s when he heard a loud screeching sound from far away. Jumping, White looked all around, trying to figure out who, or what, was in the ship. Nervously, he ran to the Cafeteria, where the lights were still on, to give him some more comfort. _I should make a cup of coffee,_ he thought, preparing for the tiring all-nighter in front of him.

White was jittering, drinking his coffee on one of the Cafeteria tables alone. The hallways were dark, and he was starting to see things in his vision that weren’t there before. Shakily, he kept muttering to himself, “Get yourself together, White. It was probably just space sounds.”

Tiredly, he stood up, turned on the hallway light switch, and walked over to the hallway connecting to Weapons. Before putting on his helmet, just in case. He strolled down the ship, keeping his senses alert, until he started to hear clicking noises that definitely weren’t just in his head. Following the sounds, White reached O2, where he quietly tip-toed into the room. He realized that the clicking noise came from the air filter, and it kept growing louder and louder until it rang in his ears like a high pitched frequency. From his pocket, he grabbed a spare flashlight, and slowly kneeled down closer to the filter to remove the cover. The clicking sound was now growling and screeching, but White did not care how loud it was. He did not care how dangerous opening the vents of the filter may be, all he cared about was finding out what this thing was. This thing that he was so drawn towards. That was when a slimy, red, and sharp-toothed creature sprang out from the O2 filter. 

White screamed in agony, but the creature broke through the glass of his helmet and covered his mouth so no one could hear his cries for help. The creature stuck its teeth through White’s suit and stabbed him in the stomach, taking control of him completely. White tried to fight, but it was no use. The parasite, now controlling White like a puppet from the inside, shape shifted into a healthy state, masking all injuries. White’s brain was constantly trying to fight this parasite _,_ but now his worst nightmare became his own reality.

 _There is now_ **_one_ ** _imposter among us._


	5. Creature

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, slight violence warning. It’s not too bad, but it gets kind of intense. Read at your own risk!

—— ONE WEEK SINCE LIFTOFF, SATURDAY, 6:00 AM, MIRA HQ TIME

Red, who had just come out of the locker room fully suited up and ready to go, strolled across the lobby and opened the doors to the sleeping quarters. The room was a hallway, with sleeping pods in the walls, giving everyone maximum privacy until now, of course. Red slid a card into the keypad on the wall, and all the pod doors opened. He grabbed a microphone that was attached to the wall, took a deep breath and yelled through the room speakers, “GOOD MORNING CREWMATES! RISE AND SHINE, EVERYONE!”

Everyone groaned. The sound of people hitting their heads on the ceilings of their sleeping pods commenced. The crewmates still weren’t used to it, even after a week of waking up at the same time, at the crack of Mira HQ dawn.

“How do you even get up and ready before us?” Yellow said, barely awake. Cyan, Brown, and Lime were all pulling on her legs to get her out of bed.

With a tall and strong posture, Red raised his head and looked around, making sure everyone was there. He counted to eleven crewmates, until he noticed that White’s pod was empty, and he wasn’t in the room. He asked if anyone had seen White arrive at the quarters last night or wake up before everyone else, but nobody knew a thing.

“I haven’t seen White go to bed at all this week. I’m convinced he’s nocturnal.” Black suggested, giggling. 

Red stroked his goatee in thought, and turned around to leave. 

After every crewmate got ready for the day, they left in a big crowd to the cafeteria. To some surprise, White was in the center, reading a book at the table. They all got breakfast from the cafe, scattered, took a seat, and got ready for the daily announcements.

Red, at the front of the room, stepped up and whistled for everyone’s attention. The crewmates, all alert, looked up at Red. White paused from his book, Pink suddenly stopped shoving their mouth with food, and Yellow and Cyan immediately quieted down from their conversation.

“Happy Saturday!” Red chorused joyfully. He continued, “We will start and complete this day as normal, like we’ve been doing for seven days already, and all of you must complete your tasks by the end of the day. It looks like White has finished working on the reactor, so everything should be going smoothly from now on. If you need help, see a specialist. I’ll be in Navigations if you need me. Have a great day, everyone! The work hours start in about twenty minutes.” Red waved at the room, smiled, and left through the Weapons hallway to Navigations.

Almost everyone was finished up with eating, and was making it to their stations to start their tasks, except Yellow and Cyan, who were still sitting at their table alone.

Yellow looked over Cyan’s shoulder to see if anyone was around. After making sure it was clear, she asked Cyan, “Hey, can I talk to you in Admin for a second?”

Cyan was confused, but curious. “Sure,” she replied, getting up from her seat and throwing her trash away. Together, they slowly walked to Admin, where it was alone and silent. Yellow quickly pulled Cyan over, took a deep breath, and spilled all of her thoughts. “I know it’s only been a week on the ship, but I have a crush on you and I like you and I think we should be girlfriends,” she said in a panicky tone, flushed from anxiety.

Cyan stood with a shocked look, staring into Yellow’s golden eyes. Her face turned pale. Before trying to talk, Yellow interrupted,

“So, what’s your answer?” She nagged angrily, eager for a response.

Cyan stepped back and closed her eyes. Taking a deep breath, she replied, “I like you too, Yellow, but this isn’t going to work.” 

Yellow raised her eyebrows in betrayal. “What? Why?” She said, holding back frustrated tears.

Cyan grabbed Yellow’s hand and held it tightly. “We’re on a mission, and they’re just too much at stake. Think of what happened to White, all of his crewmates died.” 

Yellow stepped closer, “But I…“ 

Cyan kept talking. “If we’re working with the parasite, who knows what could go wrong. I need to focus on work,” she said hushly, looking to the side. “I’m sorry, Yellow,” Cyan stressed. Letting go of Yellow, she turned around and left Admin.

Yellow radiated with fury. She clenched her fists and wiped away her tears, which left wet spots on her glove. While Cyan was turning her back to leave, Yellow screamed, “Have fun doing your tasks alone, then!” Sobbing, she crashed into the wall and huddled up into a ball on the floor. _Stupid,_ she thought to herself, _now your only good friendship is over. Good freaking job, Yellow._ She sighed, running fingers through her hair. Thoughts raced through her mind, and she forgot about time completely. She sensed two pairs of footsteps walking to the Admin door and jumped, turning the corner and leaving the room as hastily as she could. She sped past Black and Orange without maintaining any eye contact or even attempting to acknowledge them.

“What’s wrong with her?” Black asked, looking over to Orange.

He hummed, “I don’t know,” while shrugging with indifference.

——

Yellow ran through the hallways and through Storage, stumbling, and made it into Electrical for her first wiring task of the day. Although she was trying to distract herself with work, there was only one thing on her mind. Cyan.

While making it to the back of the room, she clenched her throat and said to herself hushly, “I don’t need her. I’m too good for her. She can spend all day with Red for all I care. I don’t need...“

Right as Yellow was fixing the second wire, something shook beneath her feet. She immediately stopped muttering to herself, and heard something moving in the vents. Watching the vent to her left intensely with a careful eye, she spotted something glow red through the vent slats. Stumbling back in fear, she yelled in uncomfort. Looking to her right, she realized the Electrical doors had closed shut.

Yellow got up and ran to the doors. She tried to pry them open, sliding her admin keycard, banging on the metal as loudly as she could, but nothing worked. A red mass of teeth and blood jumped up from the vents. Yellow, hyperventilating, spun around to see… White? Except, it wasn’t White. His stomach was wide open, with teeth protruding from the open gap of his spacesuit. A sharp tentacle quickly attacked Yellow, slashing her face. She turned her head to the right, leaving a red gash on her left cheek. The monster grabbed her by the neck and raised her up from the ground, leaving her struggling to get away.

Trying to pry the creature off, she screamed in cold blood, “You monster. If you’re gonna kill me right here, you could’ve done it with a little more class.” 

White’s eyes glowed dark red, and his mouth opened wide, displaying rows of sharp teeth, similar to a shark. _“There’s something I want from you,”_ the creature said demonically.

 _This is not White anymore. He has no freedom for himself now,_ Yellow realized. “Let me go, or else I’ll call Red here, right now, to eject your ass into space to rot,” Yellow growled, still desperately trying to make the parasite let go. 

_“Don’t keep that promise. It will cost you what you love the most, Yellow,”_ The creature growled, smiling with an intense blood-stricken grin while pinning Yellow to the wall even higher.

Yellow’s mind immediately went to Cyan. _What is it gonna do?_ She thought. Her eyes widened in fear. “Don’t! I’ll do anything for you,” Yellow screamed agonizingly, “...If it means protecting _her_.”

The creature laughed maniacally in a brash tone. _“It’s a deal,”_ It said, relaxing it’s extended limb of blood. Yellow fell to the floor, coughing. She shivered in horror, cupping her face into her bloody hands.

 _“You made the right decision,”_ said the creature. It walked over to Yellow and crouched down next to her. _“I need you to eliminate the others on this ship with me,”_ it hissed, spitting up a knife from the stomach gap. Yellow glanced over at the knife, picked it up, and examined it with wide eyes. The creature continued, _“Do as I say and you will be spared.”_

Looking up, Yellow saw the creature transform back into a normal state. All the blood on the floor was brought back into its body, where it then magically closed the gaps in White’s spacesuit. What was left after the transformation was an exhausted looking White, devoid of any emotion. He turned around and slowly walked to the back of the room, opening the vent and disappearing without a trace, leaving Yellow on the Electrical floor sobbing.

 _There are now_ **_two_ ** _imposters among us._


	6. Attacks

—— SATURDAY, 12:35 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

It was a productive afternoon, and Purple just got done filling up the Lower Engine with gas. She put down the gasoline carton and wiped the sweat off of her forehead with the dirty sleeve of her suit. “Final task done. That wasn’t so hard, was it?” She muttered to herself, sighing with relief. Picking up her things, she turned around, about to walk back to Storage.

Until a blood-curdling scream echoed throughout the halls above Lower Engine, catching her attention immediately.

Frightened, Purple dropped the wrench and cartons in her hands and darted towards Upper Engine, trying to search where the sound came from. Turning her head around the corner of Reactor, Brown was on the ground, half of his face marred with blood. He was covering a stab wound on his right arm, until he looked up at Purple. 

“Get Lime! Please, help!” Brown yelled. Pausing in her footsteps, Purple said no further words. She dashed to Medbay, passing other crewmates who heard the scream that were walking to Reactor. Purple saw that Lime was inspecting some medical samples and ran up to her, grabbing her by the shoulders, “Get bandages and disinfectant, now!” She stuttered.

Confused, Lime asked her what was wrong. She looked behind Purple’s shoulders, and saw Black and Pink carrying an injured Brown into the room. Lime budged in front of Purple, and immediately went to help put Brown onto one of the stretchers. Without any hesitation, Lime looked up at Black and Pink. “You two, get washed up and get the bandages from the second cabinet to the right of the scanner,” she ordered, “I need an eyepatch, too.” Nodding in unison, they scurried to the back of the room and followed Lime’s commands.

“Lime,” Brown whimpered, “there’s something you need to know.”

Lime grabbed the materials from Pink’s hands and crouched down. She took off Brown’s glove, lifted up his space suit sleeve, and started to wrap Brown’s arm in bandaging. “What is it?” She asked, while looking attentively at his wounds.

Brown coughed, and raised his other hand to illustrate his words. “While I was unlocking the reactor manifolds, something attacked me from the vent. They went for my eye first, so I couldn’t see who it was in the moment. As soon as they came, they left. I could barely see a red arm slithering away,” he muttered, all out of breath. He grabbed Lime’s arm and looked at her with a terrified gaze, “It was a person. I don’t remember the color of their suit, but it was _someone._ The parasite is on the ship. There’s an imposter.” Brown cried, leaning his neck back and gasping for air.

Lime stopped bandaging his arm for a moment, and glanced at Brown coldly. Turning to Purple, she murmured, “Get Red.”

Purple bolted out of Medbay without any hesitation, weaving through the hallways faster than lightning. She burst through the doors of Navigations. Red and Cyan, at the front of the room, jarred their heads around in alarm. Purple was hyperventilating, barely able to make out the words, “Captain, there’s an emergency in Medbay.”

——

Yellow was aimlessly walking through the long halls of the ship, thinking about what happened between her and Cyan, and between her and White. She didn’t know what to do. White, no, the _parasite,_ had completely manipulated her into a state of apprehensiveness and worry. On one hand, she had Cyan, her best friend, and the only crewmate who makes her truly happy. On the other hand, she has to _kill_ the other crewmates just to protect one. _This isn’t a fair deal,_ Yellow contemplated to herself, _I’m such an idiot!_ She sat down on one of the crates in Storage, still trying to hold in her tears. Footsteps could be heard pattering from the eastern side of the ship. Yellow looked to the right of her. It was Blue. They both looked at each other in surprise.

“Yellow? What are you doing here?” He asked, “Aren't you going to check out what’s happening in Medbay?”

Yellow sighed and stood up with exhaustion. “What for?” She asked back in an annoyed tone.

Blue paused. “Didn’t you hear? Brown got injured,” he added, “Almost everyone’s there.”

Yellow groaned. “What happens to Brown honestly isn’t my problem,” she replied, “I’ll be there later.”

Blue nodded, and jogged back to Medbay.

 _Injured? Could that mean…_ Yellow stopped for a second to take in what she heard before. _It got someone already?_ She decided it was best to check in to see what was happening. Right before she was about to enter through the Medbay door, she stopped outside, trying to overhear what Red was saying to the crewmates. Against the wall, she leaned her head closer to the door, just barely, and inspected the room. There were eight people. Brown, Lime, Pink, Black, Purple, Blue, Red, and Cyan. Red was crouching down next to Brown, interrogating him about the incident.

“So you say that you saw _the_ parasite, Brown?” Questioned Red, everyone could tell he was starting to panic.

Yellow’s heart rate doubled. _They’re figuring us out. What do I do?_ She slipped out of the Medbay hallway, and thankfully nobody noticed. She exhaled with relief and started jogging around the ship, looking for anyone who was alone. _I have to do this,_ her thoughts said. _I have to do this or else I’m dead._ She reached Shields, where she saw Orange finishing up a task. Orange looked over at her, and waved with a heartwarming smile. Yellow pulled out a knife from her backpack.

Yellow clenched her throat and felt a tear running down her cheek. “I’m sorry, Orange,” she hushed. Knife in hand, she sprinted towards him and crashed him into the wall, concussing his head against the window. She stabbed him in the stomach, and hesitated before the second time. “This isn’t worth it,” she whispered to herself. For a second, the sound of her tears and the blood of Orange hitting the metal floor was the only thing she heard. Stepping away, she stumbled from the shock of what she had just done. Thoughts raced through her mind faster than the beating of her heart. 

Yellow contemplated her choices for a second, _I could leave him here to die and never forgive myself… Or I could bring his body to Medbay and nobody would suspect a thing,_ she thought, _I could cover it up._

Grinning with delight as she worked out a plan, Yellow lifted Orange’s passed-out body off the ground with effort and limped over back to Medbay. Nervous was an understatement, Yellow was terrified. She was incredibly guilty, and she had no idea how to barge into a room full of people and just show them what she had done. She gulped and ran into the crowded infirmary, Orange’s body slinged over her shoulder and yelled, “Help! Orange was passed out in Shields!”

Everyone gasped. Lime was just done helping Brown, and now there was another patient she had to attend to. Cyan stepped back, covering her mouth in horror. Red was radiating with shock and surprise. Black, however, was the first one to react. She ran up to Yellow, taking Orange from her arms, and put him onto a stretcher in the matter of seconds. “More bandages! Now!” Black yelled. Lime ran over, inspecting the wound. To everyone’s surprise, Orange opened his eyes wide and groaned in pain, leaning over to cover his side, which was bleeding profusely. 

Lime pulled him back over. “You need to stay still and get some rest,” she said, zipping his suit open, ripping his undershirt, and wrapping gauze around his torso. “Do you remember anything? Anything we should know about this attacker?” Lime asked.

Orange could barely speak, as the pain in his head was overwhelming for him. He tried to remember what happened before the attack, but his mind was completely blank from amnesia.

“No,” he replied, “I remember nothing at all…”

Lime called over Red, and whispered something into his ear. Nodding, he announced to the group, “Everyone, we have to leave the room while Lime and Pink work on Orange and Brown’s injuries. I’m going to call an emergency meeting. Every healthy crewmate except Pink and Lime to the Cafeteria, now.”

—— SATURDAY, 2:21 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

The group, in unison, left through the door and turned right into the Cafeteria, circling the table with the red button covered with glass that was inscripted with the words, “ _EMERGENCY MEETING.”_ Red lifted the glass case and pushed it, sounding alarms throughout the ship. The remaining crewmates, Green and White, ran into the Cafeteria, both looking confused.

“What’s happening?” Green asked nervously.

Red sighed, and ushered both White and Green to sit at the table with the rest of them. 

“We’re here to discuss what happened to Brown and Orange, and who tried to kill them,” Red replied, looking around the whole group with watchful eyes. 

Green stuttered, “Brown? You mean my brother? Someone tried to kill him?” Green sat up apprehensively in his seat, raising his eyebrows furiously.

Red cleared his throat. “Yes, Purple was the one who reported it, and Yellow was the one who reported Orange, who was also attacked,” he paused, “by the parasite.”

Everyone at the table looked at each other and inched apart slowly, even Yellow and Cyan. 

Red stood up and paced around the table. “Brown claims that the parasite has infected a person. Before being attacked, he saw the flash of a space suit. Which means that there is an imposter, right under all of our noses,” he said, pausing, and putting his head between Green and White. Red stepped back and continued, “Whoever that imposter is, I will eject you through the trash chute, making sure you never see the light of day again.” Looking at Blue, Red added, “And Blue, you weren’t in the room when I said this, but Brown called off the Book Club meeting.” Blue was surprised. He looked down and frowned. Red continued, “Brown told me all about it. I believe whoever the imposter is, they don’t want you guys to discuss anything about suspicious acts on this ship.”

White, with his exhausted eyes, rested his hand on his chin and looked up at Red. “I have an idea. How about we use democracy, and vote who we think this imposter is, giving all of our thoughts. Then, whoever has the most votes will be ejected. Does that sound fair?” He suggested.

“Hmm,” Red hummed, stroking his goatee in thought like he always does in puzzling situations like these. “That’s… Actually a very good idea, White,” he realized. “Is everyone in favor of this idea?” Red asked the room.

Everyone nodded, and the meeting continued. “Well, does anyone have any information to back up someone’s crimes today?” Red questioned the crewmates. Everyone stayed silent. Red sighed with annoyance. “Nothing at all?” He groaned.

“Well,” Cyan added, “I think we can cross off Lime and Pink off of our list. They were both in Medbay all day.”

Blue interrupted, “...And Purple and Yellow. They both reported a body.”

You couldn’t hear it, but Yellow breathed out and relaxed with reassurance.

Red joined the conversation, “What about Cyan and I? We were up in Nav this whole time, which leaves Blue, Black, Green, and White.”

“Hey! I helped bring Brown to Medbay! Why would I do that if I was the parasite?” Black yelled, crossing their arms in fury.

Blue scoffed. “You’re really gonna blame me, Captain? Purple was the only one near Reactor when it happened, and I’m in Electrical most of the time, anyway!” He exclaimed, raising his voice in frustration.

“Just because someone reported a body, doesn’t mean they didn’t try to kill!” Green added.

White puffed at the strand of hair in his face. “Pink wasn’t in Medbay all day, either. I saw them in the hallways when I was heading to the washroom,” pleading his case.

“It could be anyone,” Cyan muttered.

After about twenty minutes of the blame going back and forth between anyone and everyone, arguments breaking out, and multiple pieces of conflicting evidence being supported, Red decided to stop the meeting, claiming there wasn’t any complete verification to say that anyone was an imposter. “I’m calling off the meeting,” Red announced, “I want everyone to keep doing their tasks, keep an eye out, and don’t get killed. I’ll call another meeting if another body is reported. Back to work, everybody,” he said, turning around and heading back to Navigations with Cyan. Everyone stood up and reported back to work.


	7. Yellow

—— SUNDAY, 5:55 AM, MIRA HQ TIME

It had been over twelve hours since “the incident” happened. “The incident” is what most crewmates liked to call what happened with Brown and Orange the day prior, where the entirety of The Skeld’s crew found out that the parasite that had wiped out the previous crew was on their ship, active and thirsty for blood, inhabiting one other crewmate under their noses. Nobody had fully slept since then. Most were living off of coffee and very, very short naps while other people kept track of them for security.

Yellow, however, was not tired at all. Nerves were single-handedly keeping her awake, and she didn’t have the mind of her own anymore. Instead, the creature was the only thing that she could think about. As she washed her face in the locker room sinks, she looked up into the mirror. For a second, she saw her face become a demented smile of sharp teeth and blood. She stumbled back, feeling her face, but realized it was only a hallucination. The only thing that could satisfy her was the thrill of killing another crewmate. The thrill of satisfying the creature. The thrill of saving Cyan from this hell that The Skeld was trapped in.

Tightening her ponytail, she walked out of the locker room, and had her mind set on the next victim. Hopefully this time, her sentiment for the crew wouldn’t get in the way of her goal. Slowly, she made her way up the stairs and entered Cafeteria, where she saw Cyan on a break. Yellow ignored her. She kept going forward and through the dim hallways of the ship. Turning left, she led herself to the door to Navigations and swiped her keycard to go inside, where Red was in the middle of a conversation with Green.

“Red, I need to talk to you,” Yellow told him, “It’s urgent, and it needs to be private. Please come with me.”

Red looked at her, confused, but was listening. “Green, I would like you to meet up with Purple for further instructions. Take these papers,” Red said, handing Green some paperwork that was in his hands.

“Yes, Captain,” Green accepted. He ran out of the room, leaving Red and Yellow.

“Well, take me to it,” Red said, breaking the silence.

Turning around, Yellow led him through the halls. Red asked no questions, figuring that people were waiting at the destination. He didn’t realize that he was being led into a trap. Yellow stopped at Electrical, and signaled him to come inside. While leading him to the back of the room, Red realized that nobody was there. He did a double take. “What are you doing?“

Before he could continue, Yellow pulled out her knife and stabbed him in the gut swiftly. Red yelled, but Yellow stabbed again. He fell to the floor, clenching wires in pain, and eventually passed out from shock. Once again, Yellow couldn’t muster the courage to keep going. Dropping her knife, she crouched down to Red. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered, “this is all my fault.” Tears came rushing like waterfalls. Wiping them away, she was about to carry Red to Medbay, plotting her great plan to self report once again to hopefully leave no suspicions behind. Before she could, the knife that Yellow had used to stab Red had been picked up. 

“Yellow?” A voice cracked.

Turning around in surprise, she saw Cyan behind her. Yellow stood up, her eyes meeting Cyan’s. The expression on her face was cold and emotionless, but Yellow could tell she fumed with anger. She looked down, tears and blood hitting the floor, but she couldn’t let out any words, no matter how hard she tried.

“I trusted you,” Cyan cried, “I had no idea you were an imposter.”

Yellow snapped. “I’m not! Just give me time to explain!” She yelled back, stepping closer to Cyan.

Cyan stumbled backwards. “There is no time to explain, Yellow,” she said, looking at Red who was still passed out, “Help me bring him to Lime!” 

In unison, they lifted up Red onto their shoulders and carried him across the ship, making no eye contact or speaking to each other whatsoever. Once they arrived at Medbay, Lime ran over and put Red on a stretcher to inspect his wounds.

“Another down? Do you know how it happened? Did you see who did it?” Lime frantically said, while unzipping Red’s suit and putting a stethoscope up to his heart.

Cyan paused and felt a drip of sweat racing down her forehead. _Didn’t Yellow say she wasn’t the parasite? I don’t even know the whole story. Should I blame her?_ She contemplated to herself, her own heart about to explode.

“No,” Cyan added, “Yellow and I didn’t see who did it.” She glanced at Yellow for a split second with a furious look. Yellow sighed.

“He’s still alive,” Lime reported, “he just needs time to recover. You two can call an emergency meeting if you’d like, considering you’re the co-captain, Cyan. I’ve got this under control.”

Cyan led Yellow out of the room, and quietly hushed, “Why?”

Yellow grabbed her by the hand and looked around frantically, making sure they weren’t near a vent. “I’ll tell you everything if you just follow me,” she said, breathing heavily.

Cyan yelped as Yellow pulled on her arm, running through the Cafeteria and down the stairs to the lobby. Yellow shut the door behind them and locked it. Running around the room, she locked the doors to the sleeping quarters and locker room, as well.

Cyan was impatient, but curious as to what was going on. “What are you doing now?” She asked.

“Something. You’ll find out why once I tell you,” Yellow grunted, pushing the metal crates over the vent openings in the floor, so that the creature had no access to the room. After she was finished with parasite-proofing the lobby, she exhaled with exhaustion and flopped onto one of the benches. She waved at Cyan to come over. Hesitantly, she followed, arms crossed.

“So you want to know why I almost killed Red?” Yellow asked. Cyan nodded with confusion. Pausing for a second, Yellow looked around the room and listened. She listened to any disruptions in the vents, to any movement of the crates. When it was completely silent, she continued, “There are two ‘impostors’ on this ship. Me, and White. White is the one infected by the parasite.”

Cyan gasped, putting her hand up to her mouth. “I never expected that. I always thought he was safe,” she stuttered.

Yellow took a sharp breath and continued to spill all of her secrets. She told everything to Cyan. Everything from right after they split up the day prior, to twenty seconds ago. She told her that it was her that stabbed Orange and reported it. She told her that if she didn’t comply with White’s commands, Cyan, and the rest of the crew, would’ve been killed. 

“Well, to be fair, I didn’t _kill_ anyone. Red and Orange are fine, right?” Yellow added, laughing nervously.

Cyan smiled, but looked away. “What are we going to do now?” She asked, looking back at Yellow.

Yellow hesitated for a moment, resting her hand on her chin to think. Holding Cyan’s hand, she said with determination, “We need to call an emergency meeting. I will confess everything, and White and I will be ejected.”

Cyan pulled away. “Yellow, you can’t just do that!” She yelled, “Why do you want to be ejected?”

Yellow looked down. “I can’t ever forgive myself for what I did to Red and Orange. I need to repay them,” she replied.

“With _death?_ ” Cyan cried, “I can’t let that happen to you. It wasn’t even your fault that you hurt them, you were manipulated by the parasite!” 

Yellow sat still. Raising her voice, she yelled, “Then what am I gonna do, Cyan? The whole crew is going to die just like the previous mission did, and we’d never be able to see our families again, or go back to Mira HQ as heroes, or live out the rest of our lives on Earth, happily together.” Yellow paused. Her face immediately became red, but she beamed. “That was _my_ plan, anyway,” she told Cyan while scratching the back of her head.

Cyan smirked for a brief moment and stood up. “What we’re gonna do is blame it all on White. We’ll make up some half-lies and make sure the parasite gets off this ship by the end of the day. Eleven crewmates against one? It’ll be easy,” she said with pride, but quickly frowned. “That means that White… He will no longer be with us on the mission if this plan works.”

Yellow sighed. “That’s true,” she responded, “but we need to do everything in our power to stop the parasite. We can’t let The Skeld end here.” Cyan let out a hand, helping Yellow get up from the seat. “So, we’re sticking together?” Yellow asked with joy.

“We’re sticking together,” Cyan answered with an ambitious tone, smiling.

Hand in hand, they both ran out of the lobby and into the Cafeteria, where the big red button was waiting for them on the center table.


	8. White

—— SUNDAY, 7:02 AM, MIRA HQ TIME

Every crewmate except Red and Lime were huddled around the center table in Cafeteria, waiting for their co-captain to speak. Yellow had just whispered something into Cyan’s ear. Cyan turned around and leaned onto the table, looking around sternly at the crewmates. “Hello, everyone. I called you here because we’re going to find out who the parasite is and eject them before the clock strikes twelve _tonight._ I don’t care about your tasks, we’re going to be sitting at this table until we figure out who this imposter is,” she announced with a tinge of fury in her voice. “Does anyone know _anything_ that could support someone’s actions?” She then asked, standing up straight.

Everyone looked at each other, and eventually Brown stood up to speak. He had a sling over his arm and an eyepatch over his left eye. He was still in pain, but thanks to Lime’s hard work and amazing ethic, Brown was up on his feet in the matter of days. “I’ve had some time to think carefully. Over the past day or two, I’ve realized something about this whole ‘parasite’ thing and how it attacked me. Plus, I’ve started to remember what I saw,” Brown looked at the co-captain intensely, “Cyan, all I know is that the space suit I saw was a light color. I know my eye was basically stabbed out, and that I can’t perceive color like I used to, but all I know it wasn’t a dark suit. It contrasted so much with the parasite’s red limbs. I can safely say that it was not anyone like Blue, Red, Green, Purple, Orange, or Black.”

White, across the table from Brown, started breathing faster than normal. 

“Thank you, Brown,” Cyan smiled, “Is there anyone else that needs to speak?” She leaned over. “Orange, you were attacked, correct? Can you remember anything? Anything at all?” She asked.

Yellow almost jumped. _What? She isn’t blaming me? She isn’t even acknowledging the fact that there might’ve been another attacker?_ Yellow blushed, but something in the corner of her eye caught her attention. White’s eyes. They were almost hypnotizing. They had a red tint to them, and it felt like they were staring right into her soul.

Yellow gulped. _Remember Yellow, you don’t follow the creature’s demands anymore. You’re a free person,_ the positive half of her brain told her.

 _You’re dead. You’re not gonna get out of this alive. Accept the fact that you’re suffocating and burning from radiation in the vacuum of outer space already,_ the negative but stronger half of her brain told her. 

Yellow was already not paying attention. She had zoned out from anything that Orange and Cyan were discussing about in the background, until she realized something that Cyan had said earlier. _She could lie._

Zoning back into real life, Yellow stepped forward and cleared her throat, “I would like to speak about my experience, Cyan.” 

Cyan stepped aside. “Of course, Yellow,” she gave her a friendly smile.

Yellow sat down and took a deep breath in, pictured what she was going to say, and was ready. “Everyone, I know who the imposter is. I avoided speaking until now, due to threats from this person. I could be killed, right here, right now. But instead of being cowardly, I’m not going to be taking orders from this creature anymore,” she looked right at White with intense, furious, and sharp eyes, nothing that Cyan or the rest of the crew had ever seen. “White is the infected one here,” she said, everyone gasping. White’s face flared with anger, and he scowled.

“Go on,” He sighed.

Yellow was more angry than ever. “I was attacked by the parasite earlier yesterday, when I was alone in Electrical. It pinned me to the wall and threatened to kill…” she paused, looking up at Cyan nervously. “...someone here that I care for, and everyone else here, unless I complied with it’s demands,” that was when Yellow gulped. Sweat started to form, and her anxiety was like a ticking time-bomb in her mind. She was running out of time. She thought to herself, _Do I lie? This wasn’t Cyan’s plan! Shoot…_ Before she could say anything else, Red barged out of the Medbay doors and rushed out of the hallway.

“You _did_ comply with those demands, Yellow!” Red screamed, limping up to the table with a walking stick, the upper half of his spacesuit dragging along the floor. Lime had followed him outside and pressured him to get back to rest. Everyone was shocked to see a bandage wrapped around Red’s torso, as nobody had yet known about what Yellow had done a few hours prior. 

“Captain!” Cyan chimed, a nervous grin stretching along her face, “It’s so good to see you up and well!”

Red ignored Cyan, pointing his finger directly at Yellow’s face. “I remember _everything,_ Yellow. To the moment you tricked me into following you, to getting stabbed _twice_ in the stomach!” Turning to face the crewmates, Red yelled, “Yellow is the imposter.” 

Everyone gasped, some looked at Yellow with disgust or anger. But, Cyan stepped in before any more accusations surfaced. “You have it mistaken, Captain. It was White who tricked you. I was in Navigations when he led you outside the room. Their suits may be similar in color and saturation, and their hair may be a similar length, but _you,_ Captain, aren’t remembering things clearly,” Cyan quipped back, crossing her arms with pride. 

Yellow wished she could hug Cyan tight and scream thank you at the top of her lungs, but now wasn’t the time for that.

Red looked at Yellow, to White, and back at Cyan. He closed his eyes and smiled, “Well, I guess I do have it wrong for once, then.”

Green quickly stood up and slammed his palms against the table. “Hold up, hold up!” He exclaimed, “Cyan, I _distinctly_ remember Yellow coming in the room to lead Red to something ‘urgent.’ You weren’t in the room at all!”

 _Crap._ Cyan said to herself. She looked back at Red and hissed, “Captain! You aren’t going to trust your second in command? I’m telling you, White is the imposter.”

“Well then, who is it?” Pink asked with caution.

Yellow exhaled, pulling out a knife from her backpack and clattering it against the hard surface of the table. All the crewmates jumped back in shock. “It was both of us, me and White. I was manipulated by the parasite to kill everyone here with it, so I could protect _Cyan._ I didn’t have enough courage to kill anybody, though, and I am deeply sorry to Orange and Red. I will accept _any_ _punishment the world sees fit,_ ” Yellow mumbled with a somber and defeated tone.

“You are bold, Yellow,” White mumbled, “Yes, it was me. I am the imposter.” Instead of his normal brash and pleasant accent, the parasite’s low pitched words rang in the ears of the crewmates with reverb, pain, and distress. Yellow examined White, or what was left of him. The strong, determined, and caring looking man at the start of this mission was now a weak shell, devoid of any feelings or emotions of his own. It was heartbreaking.

Red sighed with disappointment, but had remorse in his heart. “Blue, Purple, I want you two to put White in a handlock and bring him to the trash chute in storage where he will be ejected. It isn’t safe to have a parasite stowaway on the ship… And Yellow, I would like to hear your side on this situation so I can get a better understanding of this mess,” Red declared.

Blue and Purple both stood up and grabbed White forcefully, pulling him up out of the seat. White didn’t budge at all. In fact, it was almost like he wanted to be ejected and free from the controlling strings of the parasite. The entire group got up from the table and followed Blue and Purple through the hallway into Storage. They crowded around the chute, where Red ordered White to stand still on top of it. He then made everyone put on their helmets, except for White.

“Goodbye, teammate,” Red imparted solemnly, before commanding Purple to pull down the lever. The room was frozen for just a second, until White’s stomach grew open, revealing the parasite’s rows of razor-sharp teeth and long, red tongue. White’s smile widened, revealing even more of the parasite’s shape-shifting abilities in a corrupt and horrifying grin. It’s violent limb of blood lashed out, sweeping Purple off of her feet right before she pulled the lever. Everyone in the room stumbled back in horror. White groaned, trying to fight the parasite. He reverted back to normal form, pushed everyone out of the way, and bolted out of the room. 

Red growled with frustration. Trying to run, he felt a sharp pain in his side. He wobbled for a second and tripped onto the floor. Lime immediately attended to him, lifting him up from the ground.

“I can’t follow him. Cyan, it’s all up to you to lead,” Red sighed, groaning from pain.

Cyan nodded and turned to face the group. “We need to corner White. Everyone, come with me. Lime, Red, Orange, and Brown all need to stay here. Let’s get this monster off of our ship,” she commanded. 

In one big group, all of the crewmates started to run, but Yellow stopped Cyan right before exiting the hallway to Cafeteria. Cyan asked what the holdup was. Grabbing her hand, Yellow told her with a saddened expression in her eyes, “If we don’t make it out of her alive, just know, I love you.”

Cyan smirked. “You think I didn’t know?” She replied, letting go of Yellow’s hand, “Yeah, love you too. Come on!” 

They met up with the rest of the group near Upper Engine. All running in one crowd, they looked around in each room. Pink checked the vents in Reactor and Security, no luck. Behind the Lower Engine, nothing. Blue carefully looked behind the wall in Electrical, nope. They all ran across Storage to Communications, where they reached Shields. Yellow, in front of the entire group, suddenly stopped, making everyone crash into each other.

“Thanks a lot, Yellow. What is it now?” Green asked, rubbing the arm that hit Pink in the stomach.

Yellow stayed silent. Tiptoeing, she tried to feel the vibrations in the floor. They became stronger with every moment that passed. She turned to her right, facing the vent. Within a split second, White lept from the vent, lashing out in one big motion. Before being able to land a hit on her, Yellow pulled out the knife from her pocket and stabbed it right into White’s chest. 

He fell onto the floor and shivered in pain. Yellow turned around at the crewmates, smiling. “At least this time, it was self defense,” she joked. Everyone stood frozen, staring at White. “What? We can sleep peacefully now!” Yellow groaned, “You guys are no fun. You know, you learn a lot about knives, after being manipulated into trying to kill your friends to protect the girl who rejected you.” She spinned the knife around her fingers.

“That’s _enough_ , Yellow,” Cyan said, trying to avoid even chuckling. Staying professional, she requested for someone to help her carry White’s body back to storage. Black offered to help. They both lifted White’s body off the ground and led the entire group through the hallway.

White woke up and snapped his neck back. With wide and crazed eyes, he looked around frantically. “What are you doing? _What are you doing?_ What am I doing here?” The parasite hissed demonically.

Cyan and Black kept moving forward, afraid to say anything, as they were leading White to an execution, essentially.

Yellow, trudging behind the group, realized that no matter what they could do to help, White’s life had been taken away from him. She tried to cover up sadness with the fact that this was no longer White, but the parasite they were ejecting into space. Nothing really helped.

White squirmed around, trying to escape the hold of Cyan and Black, but they were both stronger than him. Once they were back at storage, Red was resting on one of the big metal crates. He looked up and was elated to see that the crew had caught White, who was barely alive.

“Put him on the pad,” Red demanded.

Cyan and Black set him down, and Purple got ready to pull down the lever. White looked up at Red with his exhausted eyes, clearly defeated. Red sighed, “Let’s just get this over with.” Signaling Purple to pull the lever, the trash chute opened up, sending White into the vacuum of space. Purple closed the chute, and everything was back to normal.

All the crewmates stood perfectly still, gazing out the window to see White floating away until he was just a small dot. The room was silent, and Red started to head back to Navigations with Lime’s help.

Pink was startled. “Do you think there are any more parasites on the ship?” They said frantically, taking off their helmet.

Red looked back. “No. There’s no way in hell we would’ve survived if there was more,” Turning back to the group, he thought for just a moment. “White was strong for defending himself against the parasite for that long, and isn’t the first time a parasite has infected a human being. Usually, the infected would lash out against any nearby humans in seconds and kill them. I believe this situation would’ve been worse if his willpower was just one bit lower,” he reassured. 

“What do we do now?” Brown asked.

Red scratched his goatee. “If you want to keep doing your tasks, I’m okay with that. If you want to end the day here and take a rest, I would be glad. You all need it,” he answered with contempt, “You guys don’t know how incredibly proud I am and how incredibly relieved I am to see us all in one piece.” Looking over to Yellow, he turned to face her. “Yellow, I would like to speak to you in Cafeteria for a moment, please,” Red ordered. Yellow nodded, and followed him back to the cafeteria.

Everyone scattered, the lesser half of the crew finished up their tasks, the bigger half went down to the locker room and changed into their casual clothes to rest. 

57 more days until they arrive at Polus.

—— MONDAY, 9:24 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

It had been about two weeks since the mission started, and everyone seemed to be rejoicing and bonding after the threat of the parasite had been diminished, but not Yellow. She still hadn’t physically or mentally recovered, yet. Most days, she didn’t come out of the sleeping quarters, or even her pod, at all. After being forced to try and kill other human beings, she still hadn’t forgiven herself. She believed that what she did was truly unforgivable. After White was ejected, Red told her that her punishment wouldn’t be extreme at all, and that he was trying to defend her case to the higher-ups at Mira HQ. Yellow, however, was still disappointed. The only person that even tried to console her was Cyan, who came in every day to check up on her.

Cyan, who was just finished with her tasks, exited the locker room in pajamas and walked over to the sleeping quarters.

Yellow, sitting in her open pod, feet dangling over the edge, was reading printed emails that her dad had sent her years ago, until Cyan walked in the room. Yellow looked over and smiled. “Well that was a long day of tasks!” She exclaimed, putting down the papers beside her.

Cyan yawned and stretched, walking over to Yellow’s pod. She shrugged, “Well, I had a lot of work to do. Red says that we’re charted to reach Polus faster than we expected, in only 47 more days,” she said enthusiastically. Sitting down next to Yellow on her bed, Cyan gave her a kiss on the cheek. Yellow kept looking down, seeming somewhat disappointed.

“What’s wrong?” Cyan asked, resting a hand on her shoulder.

Yellow pulled out the papers from next to her, and handed them over. “I’ve never told anyone about these,” she said, “and I would like you to read them.”

Cyan grabbed the papers delicately and started reading.

_NEON HOLDT, DAY ONE JOURNAL ENTRY._

_Dear family,_

_Hey! What’s up? It’s sometime at night, Mira HQ time on The Skeld. I’m really excited to be working with other astronauts here. We’re gonna put a stop to this parasite now, and I’m gonna come home as a hero!_

_As of writing this, I just got done with my daily tasks. It’s going pretty great so far! You would love the kind of stars I see while flying, Yellow. I know you’re interested in that kind of stuff, you should become an astronaut just like me some day!_

_\- Love, Dad_

Cyan glanced at Yellow. “This was your dad? You never told me that he was an astronaut on the first mission!” She said with surprise. 

Yellow sighed, leaning forward and putting her hands between her legs. “You’re not even at the part I wanted to show you, yet. Just keep reading,” she responded.

Cyan looked back at the papers and flipped to the second page.

_NEON HOLDT, DAY SEVEN JOURNAL ENTRY_

_Dear family,_

_It’s still a long way to Polus, but I’m jittering from excitement! As I’m writing this, we’re about seven more weeks away from that beautiful planet, and I’m super excited to be working with aliens! How awesome is that? So, Yellow, how’s school? How have you been treating mom? How’s your brother doing? Have you got into any more fights again? Do you have a boyfriend yet? Just kidding. I know you have trouble socializing. Ha! Don’t take it personally. I was the same. Hey, I know you’re still confused on which life path you want to take, but I promise you, you’ll love being an astrobiologist like I am! These crewmates are amazing, and I’ve met so many genius people so far! But again, it’s up to you. I hate to pressure you, but I really do look forward to the day that we’ll be traveling through space together!_

_\- As always, Dad_

Cyan then flipped over to the third and last page.

_NEON HOLDT, DAY TWENTY JOURNAL ENTRY_

_Hey, it’s Dad again. Sorry I haven’t been writing to you at all this week. Things have been challenging. Two of my crewmates were suddenly assassinated by an unknown entity. We’re trying to figure out how it happened. We believe that somebody on the ship might be an imposter. We have no idea who. So far, White has been leading us. He’s an amazing man, I envy his hair, as well! He’s been trying to figure out this mystery non-stop. Hopefully, we get to Polus safe and sound. Hold on, someone just called an emergency meeting. It’s been nice writing to you!_

_\- Hopefully getting to Polus safely, Dad_

Cyan gulped. It was strange reading the last journal entry from someone who was… deceased. Yellow was handed back the papers from Cyan, wiping away a tear. “Yellow, why didn’t you tell me or anyone else that your father was on the previous crew?” Cyan asked.

Yellow closed her eyes. “I don’t know,” she rested her head on Cyan’s shoulder. “I’m tired of this mission. My dad was killed because of this stupid parasite. I just want to go home,” she groaned, leaning back onto her bed, “I have no motivation for this anymore. I went into this mission so I could explore space, and now it feels like I’m being tortured by space.”

Laying down next to Yellow, Cyan rested her arms behind her head, staring at the roof of the sleeping pod.

Yellow sighed and rubbed her eyes. “When we get to Polus, I’m going to eradicate this parasite from the universe and avenge my dad,” she proclaimed with determination. Yawning, she looked over to Cyan and asked her, “So, what are you gonna do?”

“I’m not sure,” Cyan replied back. “but I agree, this parasite needs to be wiped out. You think this crew can do it, Yellow? Yellow?” Rolling over, Cyan noticed that Yellow was already asleep. Cyan smiled, and lightly kissed the top of Yellow’s forehead, dozing off next to her.


	9. Transmission

—— 47 DAYS LATER, WEDNESDAY, 9:33 AM, MIRA HQ TIME, ~7 HOURS UNTIL LANDING

“Yellow, please wake up. The rest of the crew is waiting for you,” Cyan begged, opening the hatch to Yellow’s pod and putting a tray of food onto the end of the bed.

Yellow screeched into her pillow and put herself into a ball at the end of her pod, inching away from Cyan. She grunted with hostility, “How many times do I have to tell you, Cy, I can’t go on that planet. I’m staying right here. In bed. For a year straight. Do you know how terrified I am of those… Those _things_?”

“The parasite…” Cyan said, “That you’re supposed to be _studying?_ ” It was hard to keep her voice quiet and soft.

Yellow sighed, grabbing an apple off the tray. “Yes, and I still haven’t recovered, you know. I _never_ will,” she paused, clenching her throat to avoid breaking down in tears. She took a crunch out of her fruit, “And… I don’t want to end up like… Like my dad.”

Cyan examined Yellow. The crewmate’s eyes were droopy and devoid of energy, the dirty pajamas she wore perhaps hadn't been washed since she started spending her days in the sleeping quarters, and the once iconic high ponytail was now greasy and dreadful. Cyan didn’t mind, though, she understood and always tried to help her.

Yellow looked stressed, maybe even horrified. It had been six and a half weeks ever since they all set out on this mission, and in the first week, a parasite infiltrated onboard and took control of both White and Yellow. It took a toll on her, and the once excited astronaut was now homesick - stuck on a spacecraft billions of miles away from Earth. Red was okay about it, though, letting Yellow skip most of her tasks often just to rest. Still, after a month onboard, Yellow still couldn’t find the motivation for anything. She had taken multiple trips a week to Lime, the physical and mental health specialist, but nothing really made her feel better. The only thing that came close to happiness was Cyan visiting her every day, but even that got old.

“You’re a part of the crew, too! You have to come out of here sometime.” Cyan let out a hand. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about it, again?” She asked with politeness.

Yellow snapped. “No, I’m sure,” inching closer to the end of her bed, pushing away her tray of food due to her lack of appetite.

Cyan sighed. “We’re a few hours away from Polus. There isn’t anything to be afraid of, now that Blue made the crew weapons,” she said. Before walking away, she added, “I’m always here, you know, but… It’s okay if you don’t want to talk.”

Yellow raised her head. “Wait, I’m sorry,” she muttered, crawling closer to the opening of her pod.

Cyan gave her a look of confusion. “For what?”

Yellow sighed and grabbed Cyan’s hand. “For the way I’ve been treating you. For the way I’ve been treating everyone, it’s just… I’m so scared. But…” She climbed out of bed, stranding up and stretching. “I think I’m ready to step out of my comfort zone,” she said enthusiastically, or, with as much enthusiasm as she was able to muster.

Cyan grinned. “Great! Red told me he wants you to get dressed, wash all the crew’s suits _and_ pajamas, empty the trash, clean the helmets, clean the air filters, oh, and all of the other tasks on your tablet. Which I conveniently brought to you!” She said gleefully, handing the tablet over to Yellow. Before Yellow even had a chance to react, Cyan continued, “Oh, and I washed your spacesuit for you! See? Because that’s what girlfriends do, right? Is that what they do? I’ve never had one before. Can you back me up on that-“

“Thank you! Gotta go!” Yellow blurted. She grabbed the sunflower-colored spacesuit that was slinged over Cyan’s arm and jogged out of the room.

—— 9:56 AM, MIRA HQ TIME, ~7 HOURS UNTIL LANDING

Brown flopped down on the control panel next to Red, who was charting the course in Navigations. Red turned his head and immediately yelled with the fury of a thousand thunderstorms, “DON’T SIT ON THAT YOU MORON!”

Brown hopped off gently and laughed. “Relax, Captain, I don’t _think_ I sat on any buttons…”

Red paused, and with annoyance he murmured, “Yes, but you could’ve… Nevermind. I have important things to do. Things to prepare. In fact, I just finished charting our course!” He smiled and looked up at the stars ahead. “Aren’t you excited, Brown? After about one and a half stressful… Actually very stressful months,” he said, clearing his throat. “we’re almost at Polus.”

Brown crossed his arms and admired the canvas of stars. “How much longer, Captain?”

“Seven hours and fifty-three minutes,” Red answered. He leaned back in his cushioned chair and sighed with relief. Before Red could relax, Cyan entered the room. Red spun around and stood up smiling, clasping his hands together. “Cyan, I see you’re up and ready for the day. Ahem, how’s Yellow?”

Cyan walked forward. “Good morning, Captain. Yellow’s doing better.” She replied. “I think she’ll be back on track soon.” Looking over at Brown who was resting on the control panel, she asked, “What’s he doing here?”

Red turned his head at Brown. “Oh, Brown was about to show me a transmission he picked up in Comms. Right?”

Brown widened his eyes with surprise, remembering what he was in Navigations for. “Oh, oh, yes! You won’t believe this, Captain!” He shouted. Tugging on Red’s arm, Brown briskly led him and Red out of Navigations, running to Communications almost as fast as the ship was. Cyan sighed, jogging behind them. “Why does everyone have to be so good at running around the ship?”

“Out of the way!” Brown yelled, shoving Green and Black out of the chairs in front of the computers. He sat down and spun the knob on the communication panel, and brought up a window on the desktop. With a shake in his voice, he said, “I picked up a weak signal this morning from the direction of Polus, right as we entered it’s vicinity, as well.” He then turned the speakers up to full volume and urged everyone to listen closely.

The words spoken were quiet and broken up, but they were audible enough to be recognized as English. 

“This is Mira Squadron 36 from planet Earth, and we've been stranded on the planet Polus since the year 2056. This is attempt ten-thousand nine-hundred and eighty-one, please respond, over.”

The transmission was then repeated again. Brown turned the volume down and grabbed Red by the suit.

“This is a transmission! From the first Polus mission! Do you know what this means?” Brown said, almost screaming into Red’s face.

“They could’ve survived,” Black realized with an amazed tone in her voice.

Red kept looking at the glow of the computers, pondering over what could be out there. Could there really be surviving humans on that planet? Turning around, he commanded his co-captain, “Cyan, turn the ship’s speed to maximum. We need to get to Polus, now.”

—— EARLIER THAT MORNING, 6:44 AM, MIRA HQ TIME

“Did you get the records?” Blue asked.

“Yes. I downloaded them earlier from the servers in admin.” Pink replied, sitting down at the table in Security where Blue and Brown rested. In the middle was a laptop. “The Skeld’s database is connected to even more data hidden inside Mira HQ’s servers, and I had to hack Mira’s servers to get it.” Before plugging in a thumbdrive, Pink remarked, “You know, I’ve learned a lot about technology, ever since joining this mission!” They smiled.

“Huh. You sure are a clever kid,” Blue chuckled. He was rather distant from everyone, but he really did have a soft spot for his friends Pink and Brown.

“Alright, is this it?” Brown asked, opening up the files from the drive. Pink nodded. “You guys have to check this out,” Brown said, “Get a freaking load of this.” He opened up the documents, and pointed at the screen to let Blue and Pink see. “Well, let me put it blunt. Mira is a terrible organization. They stole money and vital information from a company called NASA decades ago. All the lies they feed us at training, the Mira “history” classes, it was all to cover up their tracks. They were never a hardworking self-made company, they’re frauds.”

Blue and Pink gasped. Brown continued reading, uncovering the iceberg that Mira was under. “Scams, records of unsafe spacecraft, terrible training courses, I mean the list just goes on.”

Pink leaned back and shivered. “What are we going to do? I mean, we’re astronauts already, far away from Earth. What are we even gonna do with this intel?”

Brown smiled and laughed in deviance. “Whatever we want. We can blackmail, get some money, fix this horrible system. I was thinking this Book Club can go further,” He stood up and chuckled. “We could take over Mira entirely.” Suddenly, Brown’s giddiness had ceased. There was a sound across the room. Turning his head, he gasped. It was Green who had opened the door and was listening into the club’s conversation the whole time.

Green grunted. “You’re terrible, Brown, you know that?” He stormed across the carpet and grabbed Brown by the suit. “You want to overthrow our family? The organization who raised us? The organization who saved us? The organization who gave us a prestigious job like this? You’re nothing without Mira, and you know that!”

Blue scooted his chair back from the violent Green. He gulped, “Is there something you’re not telling us, Brown?”

Green kept yelling, “Yes, there is. The Mira you know now is different from those documents. Any ameteur would know that Mira’s database is encrypted, and any information you hack is old. Decades old. I guess you’re not as tech-savvy as you thought, Pink?”

Pink lowered their head. “I- I didn’t say I was the best at technology. Hey, I was able to hack old information! That counts for something!”

Green continued further, gripping tighter on his brother’s suit. “You have a lot of nerve, Brown, thinking you can overthrow Mira, our _family_.”

“Okay, okay, can I say what I wanna say now? Let go of me!” Brown croaked, tugging away from Green’s hold. He sighed, turning over to Pink and Blue. “Green’s not wrong. Our mom is the CEO of Mira, that’s why she allowed Green, a _17 year-old_ ,” he paused with clear anger, “...on a dangerous mission. It was his birthday present… I didn’t care about the false information. I want Mira for myself. Don’t you see it, Blue, Pink? We could rule space together. We could eliminate the parasites, we could do anything. If only we had Mira.”

Pink was looking at their toes, having no idea what to say. “Yeah, I guess so…”

“Pink,” Green murmured. He walked over and put a hand on their shoulder. “You can’t trust Brown. He’s a jealous and terrible person and-“

“And?” Pink yelled. “Brown and Blue are my friends, my only true friends, and I need to help them in any way I can. I’m not switching sides that fast,” they said, pulling Green’s hand away and walking past him to Brown’s side. They grabbed Brown’s arm. “If Brown wants to lead Mira with us, I’m happy to assist him.” 

Brown hummed with confidence. “You know, Pink, my mom hasn’t been the best leader. She’s afraid of accomplishing new things to do with outer space.” Brown stepped over and touched his brother on the shoulder. “Green was always the favorite child, the baby of our family. He was destined to have Mira passed down to him. I’m glad you’re helping the rightful owner.” Brown reassured.

Pink smiled, “My pleasure.” they glanced over at Blue, who was still shocked. “Come on, Blue, let’s get out of here and play Amongst Them or something.” They pulled Brown away and started to leave. “I’m tired of this kid trying to tell us what to do.”

“Yes, Pink,” Blue sighed, clearly not ready to pick a side.

In unison, Blue, Pink, and Brown all left the room without a trace. Before following his allies, Brown turned his neck back at his brother, and glared at him with disappointment. Green stood, visibly upset. “You’re terrible.”

Brown smiled, letting out a puff of laughter. “What are you gonna do, tell mom?” He smirked, turning back around to exit Security with Pink and Blue, leaving Green all alone.

Green clenched his fists, feeling the need to punch something, someone, but he just couldn’t. He flopped down into one of the chairs, trying to hold in tears. Green didn’t like feeling this weak, but it was always how he felt. He could never stand up to anyone, especially someone like his brother. He felt so alone, as the only person he truly knew on the ship had turned around and betrayed him. He wanted to go home. As Green hung his head and looked down in defeat, something struck his memory. It was before liftoff, at the headquarters.

Brown, kneeling onto the floor a few feet away from Green, was emptying his locker. It was only a few hours until The Skeld would take flight, and he needed to be prepared for the long journey ahead of him and his crew. Frantically, he was trying to shove endless papers and documents down, but to no avail.

“You know you can clean your locker, right?” Green laughed, carefully organizing his books and electronics into separate spaces inside his backpack. Once his locker was all cleared out, he shut the metal door and walked over to his unorganized brother.

“I know that,” Brown grunted, tossing papers around him left and right, until one file landed at Green’s boot. Green picked it up, unraveling the crumpled paper. _Mira Scandal of 2025_ , it inscribed. The paper was confusing and all over the place, with notes written everywhere around it, making the whole file seem like a mess. Before Green could even start to decipher it, Brown stood up and snatched it from his hands.

“What was that?” Green asked, watching Brown put the paper into his pants pocket. “2025?”

Brown laughed, “Nothing you need to be concerned about,” avoiding Green’s question. Brown slammed the locker door and slung his bag over his shoulder, turning to face Green before running off to the launch pad. “There’s one last thing I need to tell you,” he added. Green looked up, and it was clear that Brown was serious now. But it wasn’t a determined kind of serious, his look was more like a threatening kind of serious. “I’m only here to find out the truth,” Brown said, patting his brother on the shoulder and walking past to leave. 

_What?_ Green asked himself. _What does that mean?_

Now, it all made sense to him. Brown was up to no good. _It has to be something to do with that paper, it has to be,_ he realized. 

Black and Orange could be heard walking through the hallways, their laughs recognizable, even to Green. He shot up from the chair, trying to pretend like nothing ever happened inside the room. Black peeked over the wall, excited to see a familiar face.

“Hey, Green!” She greeted him with a smile. “Just your luck, Orange and I were about to go-“ 

He ran up to Black with horror struck on his face. “You… You guys need to help me,” he mumbled.

Confused, Orange stepped forward. “What is it?”

“I…” Green stuttered. _How do I make this sound believable? Brown is the most trustworthy person on the ship,_ he thought. “You guys... My brother’s doing something bad, I can just feel it, I know it, please just help me, I have no one!” 

Black widened their eyebrows, knowing that this was serious. This was unlike Green, who was usually light-hearted and humorous, and she knew that this wasn’t some kind of joke. Putting a hand on his shoulder, Black said, “Whatever you need, Orange and I are both here.” They both smiled politely.

“I never liked that Brown, anyway,” Orange smirked. “You can tell us anything.”

Green relaxed, realizing that this was his only chance to stand up for himself. “Great,” he said. “because I need to tell you what happened just now,”

“I… I think my brother’s up to something.”

—— 7:20 AM, MIRA HQ TIME

Brown yawned, putting down his bowl of cereal at one of the admin computer desks. He took a seat, slouching lazily as he logged into his account. He thought about how his brother, Green, had thrown a whole fit in Security earlier. Brown laughed to himself. _What a loser,_ he thought. He opened his emails, but they weren’t too surprising. Some student loan reminders, some advertisements, mission details, just junk. Before he closed out of the window, he scrolled up and noticed a new email that was received. The header, _“I know what you’re doing.”_

“Suspicious,” said Brown, chewing on his breakfast. “Intriguing.” He clicked on the interesting message and read some more, but immediately, his jaw dropped.

_Dear Mr. Brown Anderson,_

_You are now on my watchlist. I know what you did earlier. You want to overthrow Mira, correct? You child. You have no idea what lies past the corporate surface, for I know everything! I could reveal information that would send you into an existential panic, like the possibilities of this universe being a video game, but only if you disobey my commands further. I am doing what normal humans call; Blackmailing. If you don’t respond in 12 hours after opening this message, I will make your mission a living hell for you and your crewmates. I wasn’t lying about how I know everything. I am not on your ship, and yet I know all about your missing eye, Pink’s inability to perform any tasks, the death of White, Red’s obnoxious mohawk, your little Book Club (which is very cute, by the way), what Yellow and Cyan do while everyone’s asleep, I know it all. Do not underestimate me. If you fail to deliver my commands, there will be consequences. In fact, there already have been. After your response, which will hopefully be sent shortly, I already have a task set out for you. Good day, and do not underestimate me._

_\- Sent from The Airship, the All-Powerful and Dr. Lavender_

Brown gasped in awe at what he had just read. He looked around at the cameras, which were blinking their red lights. _Shit,_ he muttered. He set down his spoon and immediately began typing a reply.

_Dear Dr. Lavender,_

_I’m not sure if this is a joke or not, but if you lay a hand on any of the crew, I’ll beat you and your little “corporate surface” to a pulp. Good day._

_\- Brown Anderson_

Brown rose from the office chair and started pacing around the room, trying to comprehend what just happened. 

_It’s probably just some sick joke by Green,_ Brown tried convincing himself. _That little bastard’s gonna get a word from me._

—— ???

In the dim sleeping quarters, a tall and muscular woman with a dark-brown bun and lots of deep scars had woken up, ready to start the day. Climbing out of her pod, she quietly tiptoed over exposed wiring to the ship’s locker room, where she zipped up into her silver-colored spacesuit. She was always the first to wake up, sometimes hours before her friends. They all lived in a crashed ship that was barely functional, for many rooms hadn’t been operated or entered for years. The water and oxygen systems had been repaired, though, with the help of her crewmates. The ship was falling apart, but with the teamwork of all four of these friends, they had survived for four long, tireless years.

The woman put on a helmet, walked across her ship’s lobby, and entered in a code to a keypad. The colossal door at the end of the ship had opened. Walking out on the purple surface of her planet, she turned around and looked at the giant letters on the side of her ship. _SKELD_. Even after thousands of mornings, reading the same letters every day, they still gave her hope.

Right as the woman was getting ready to explore, her friend appeared from the ship door. “Silver!” He yelled.

The woman, Silver, looked up at her crewmate, Gold. He was a curly-haired man with one blind, scratched-out right eye and many, many, many battle scars. He was resting on the side of the ship’s door. Silver asked him, “Good day, Gold. Any luck with the transmissions?” Like she did every day.

“Hm. You sure ask that a lot, Silver. You know it’s gonna be the same answer.” He responded with his quiet and raspy voice, grinning while tapping the shiny metal of the ship.

“For the past four years. You know I like answers.” She said, crossing her arms. Right before walking away from her irritating friend, he told her something that struck her interest.

He beamed with delight and walked forward. “Well, guess what? I noticed that there was a receiving message in Comms, replying to our transmissions. Another Mira squadron is coming… I guess that wretched corporation hasn’t given up on us, after all.” Gold said, chuckling exhaustedly. 

“Liar,” Silver replied. Noticing a familiar red, slimy, toothed creature on the ground, she squashed it right underneath her boot. She glared at her crewmate with a sharp eye. “Nice joke there, but that's impossible.”


	10. Plans & Preparation

—— 11:56 AM, MIRA HQ TIME, ~6 HOURS UNTIL LANDING

“Everyone, settle down.” Red demanded, raising his voice so it could be heard throughout the cafeteria. It was supposed to be a designated lunch break for everyone, but news of what was picked up in Communications was spread. Everyone wanted answers. 

Black couldn’t settle down. Pointing at Red, they laughed, “Why didn’t you tell us that the previous mission had crash landed on Polus?”

“We didn’t know,” Red replied. 

Blue put down his phone to join the conversation. “So did White abandon everyone on his old crew or…?”

Red facepalmed. “That’s not-“

Green interrupted him. “There’s always a possibility of this being a trap set up by the parasites!” He added, his voice shrill.

“Yeah Red, this could be a trap. Just think about how easy it was for White to be infected,” said Brown, still with a twisted grin on his face.

“Can we maybe _not_ talk about parasites?” Yellow suggested. Lime, with consolement, put a hand on her back.

Everyone just listen to me!” Red shouted. Everyone turned away from their conversations. After collecting himself and his thoughts, Red then resumed, “My theory is that the old Skeld crew crashed into Polus four years ago, and Mira assumed they all died,” Red raised his finger, stopping for just a moment. “The transmission we found was weak, but you know what that means? They have something that can send a radio signal like that, they might still have the first Skeld intact. But,” Red stepped forward and opened up his tablet. “I still haven’t told you all what we’ll be doing once we reach the outpost!” He smiled, giddy with delight. “Isn’t that fun? I’ve always been somewhat of a good planner, you know.”

Purple crossed her arms and puffed the strands of hair out of her face. “I still wanna talk about the fact that humans have been living on Polus, home of the parasites, but, whatever.”

Red kept talking, reading the memo off the tablet. “When we land, we will use the materials in cargo to build an outpost, where we will live and study. We also have weapons now, thanks to some geniuses in this room,” Red said, shooting a glance at Blue. Blue looked up, surprised, but grateful. He nodded.

Red then pondered for a moment, “You know, weapons would’ve been useful a few weeks ago during that White incident... Anyways, moving on, Once we’re settled, I expect each and every one of you to put in your effort and teamwork to set up the outpost. It won’t be too challenging, as I actually have instructions, _and_ I had training for this moment! Did anyone else take Interplanetary Setups 101?” It was silent. “Anyone?” Red persisted. “No one? Well, I suppose I am supposed to lead you all. Trust me, if we all stick together, we’ll have the outpost finished in a week. If everything goes to plan, of course.” 

After a heavy amount of silence, Orange eventually cleared his throat and interrupted it with, “So, can we eat now, Captain?”

“Oh! Yes! Eat!” Red clapped. “We have a big day ahead of us, guys!” He chimed, still tinkering with the plans on his tablet. Everyone started to relax and get their lunch. Cyan was the first one to get her tray, and she sat down next to Yellow.

“Hey, what’s up? I seriously haven’t seen you eat for a while. Something on your mind?” She asked, turning to Yellow, curious as to why her crewmate seemed distant.

Yellow snapped back into reality after spacing off, surprised to see Cyan next to her. Sweat started to drip down her forehead. “Uh, um, it’s just I, I-“ She tried, but she just couldn't make out the words she wanted to say, like a boulder was squashing her lungs. Her throat grew colder, as she was so distracted by what Green and Brown had said earlier. The voices of ‘ _There’s always a possibility of this being a trap set up by the parasites!_ ’ And ‘ _Just think about how easily it was for White to get infected,_ ’ lingered in her mind like an endless echo. For a moment, Yellow took off her glove and brushed the oh-so-visible pink scar on her cheek with her cold fingers. It was from when the parasite had attacked her in Electrical. Before branching off from real life again, she muttered, “I just don’t think I can do this, Cy.”

Cyan sighed, as she was truly concerned for Yellow. Seeing her friend worry was arguably the worst feeling. She grabbed Yellow’s hand. “Let’s make a deal. You come with me and the rest of the crew onto the planet when we land, and I’ll make sure you have the most powerful and deadly weapon in your hands so you can kill as many parasites as you want. Does that sound fair?” She chuckled.

Before Yellow could even respond, Orange and Purple strolled past where they sat, laughing. It was distracting, and Cyan put on her ‘resting annoyed face’ that she puts on whenever she’s frustrated.

“Cy? Did I hear that right?” Purple laughed, grabbing Cyan in a hug-like grip. 

Cyan took a deep breath of embarrassment with just a tinge of fury and violence, ready to strike Purple in the nose. Too bad that would land her a lawsuit and without a job. Maybe another day. 

“That’s… What… Yellow… Calls… Me… Now…” Cyan explained, putting an angry pause in between each word. “She… Says… It’s… Easier… To… Say…”

Before asking Yellow for reassurance, she saw her laughing. It was the happiest she looked in a while. “What’s so funny, Yellow?” Cyan asked in a serious tone.

Yellow was wiping away a joyful tear. “It’s just ironic how you always call me uptight, and yet you get upset over a nickname,” she teased.

While the others were laughing with giddiness, Cyan realized something. _Maybe I am a little too serious._ Soon, she was joining in with the rest of them, not afraid to laugh at herself anymore.

“Okay, but seriously guys, don’t call me that ever again. Except for my Yellow, of course!” she grinned, patting Yellow’s head. After some small talk that Cyan really didn’t care for, Orange and Purple soon left, leaving her with Yellow once again. Cyan suddenly remembered what she was going to say. “You know, I really don’t like seeing you afraid. It’s worrying,” she told Yellow with concern in her voice.

Yellow raised her eyebrows once again, and looked back down in disappointment. “I’m sorry, it’s just you know how I am after… You know. The White situation,” she sighed, anxiously picking at her lips.

“You know you can open up to me now, right?” Cyan reassured. “Is there another parasite preventing you from telling secrets or something?” She joked. 

Yellow smiled and laughed nervously, waving her hands in denial. “No, no, it’s just… You don’t have to worry about me! I can handle this.” She said with a false confidence. Maybe it wasn’t true, but she was used to telling lies like that.

Cyan hummed with assurance, assuming Yellow really didn’t need assistance. Her phone on the table glowed, and she read the time. 12:32. “Hey, wanna do some tasks together, just like the good ol’ days?”

Yellow, pausing from her own thoughts, stood up and stretched. “By the good ol’ days, you mean, like, a month ago?” She joked. “Sure, I need something to do.”

—— 1:10 PM, MIRA HQ TIME, ~3 ½ HOURS UNTIL LANDING

Blue’s footsteps were gentle on the metal ground of the ship, making sure not to be noticed. In his grasp was a medium-sized cardboard box which was relatively heavy. In the box was a prototype that he was working on - somewhat of a gift. He knew it was conspicuous, but Blue was loyal and true to his word. If someone needed something, he'd supply it. After all, he was the ship’s genius now, ever since White had been put out of his misery. As Blue aimlessly strolled through the back hallways of The Skeld, he looked up from the ground and noticed the big letters on the wall that said, ‘ _Upper Engine.’_

“Did you bring it?” A voice chimed from behind the engine, deep and curious. A man with an earthly-colored spacesuit and an eye covered with bandage stepped forward with his arms crossed, resting his hips onto the railing. Brown.

Blue nodded, uncovering the box from his bulky sleeve. “Be careful now, Brown, we don’t want another incident on our hands.” He laughed, but was still careful not to alert attention.

“Pfft,” Brown breathed. “I suspect so, unfortunately. You see, my nosey brother has always been on Yellow’s side, and that girl is a vulture. It’s disturbing how she’s everywhere, especially with the co-captain.” Brown paused, let out a blurt of laughter, and carefully constructed his thoughts. “That’s why I plan to get on her side. Besides, this invention of hers will benefit her. But for now…” He took the box from Blue’s hands and carried it in one arm. “Come, Blue,” he requested.

Blue shrugged, following Brown through the ship, passing Electrical and Storage until they both arrived outside the Communications door. Brown whipped out his administrator card and slid it through the keypad, and to his surprise, Red was right there, standing a few feet away from the both of them about to exit the room. Red stopped, avoiding from bumping into his crewmates. 

“Oh, hey Brown,” he said with a smile. “I was just checking for any new transmissions before we land.” He surveyed Brown’s face, which was more sincere and determined than normal. He looked down at the box in his hands.

“What’s the box for?” Red asked. “And what’s Blue doing here? I recall that I gave him tasks that are vastly different than yours, Brown.”

Brown raised his eyebrows, thinking about what to say, thinking about an excuse. “We’re taking a little stroll together, right Blue?” He said, turning his head and looking up at the tall astronaut.

Blue nodded, going along with Brown’s words. He came up with an alibi, “Inside the box are simply some spare wires and circuits, he needed them,” Blue told Red with a poker face, pointing to Brown.

Red started at the two with sharp eyes for a moment that lasted ages for Brown. He then shrugged and hummed, figuring they both knew what they were doing and continued to saunter past the two crewmates to resume his usual work in Navigations. When all was clear, Brown and Blue briskly made it into the room, where Brown pulled out his card again and shut the door. “Finally,” he groaned, opening up the box. Inside was a carefully wrapped object covered in bubble wrap. He set the box down on the floor and started to unravel the wrap that encased the item. In his left hand, lay an explosive. The glow of the computers shined against the surface, as he could see Blue’s handiwork. The material on the outside was plastic to give it a discreet feel, and the small writing above the glass panel said ‘ _Parasite Killer; Use only when necessary’_.

“It’s perfect,” Brown remarked, rubbing his pointer finger against the smooth glass that would show a timer. “Out of curiosity, how does it go boom?” He asked, mimicking an explosion with his hands.

Blue then carefully took the explosive from Brown and made sure to demonstrate correctly. “You open up this little thing on the back,” he explained, popping out a cover that exposed two wires and a small button inside. “This button right here starts the timer that’s set for five minutes,” he said, pointing to the small metal button. “It should buy you enough time to get out.”

Brown observed for a few seconds, and nodded.

“This wire right here stops the countdown and the explosion from happening, but still allowing the bomb to be used for later,” he said, now pointing to a skinny white wire. “...but you can only cut it one time, so don’t mess up.”

Brown glared, and nodded his head again.

Blue continued, now pointing to a twisting black wire. “This one starts the explosion immediately once cut, but I don’t recommend it, since you’ll, you know, um,” he paused, then motioned a slice with his hand over his neck. “Die,” he answered with a jokeful tone.

Brown crossed his arms and repeatedly nodded in compliance.

Blue lowered the explosive, and before giving it back to Brown, he lifted his finger and explained one last thing. “And if you cut both of them at the same time, the explosive will stop and become, essentially, useless. You can’t use it again and it’s internal battery will shut off permanently.” Blue handed back the dense weapon. He took a deep breath, resting from all the explaining he had to do. 

Brown looked down at his new toy with curiosity and wonder. “I can’t ask for a better friend, Blue. You’re quite a useful man, I like that.” he said politely with a grin, closing the metal cover on the back and wrapping the explosive back in it’s bubble wrap casing. 

“No problem,” Blue responded, but something just seemed off to him. _What is he gonna do?_ He thought, _Was this even the right decision?_ Blue stood and pondered for a moment while Brown hid the box in a cabinet up high. Blue cleared his throat, “May I ask, what exactly did you want with a device like this?”

Brown turned around and met Blue’s eyes with a serious expression. He walked closer. “Ridding the world of that disgusting creature, that’s what. Once we’re on that planet, who knows what might happen. We need it to be safe.” He paused, surveying Blue’s doubtful expression and second-guessing his friend’s loyalty. “Trust me, when I’m done with this, you’ll be glad I gave you this opportunity,” he added, using a hostile tone in his voice that Blue had never heard before. 

Brown spun around quickly. He glanced down at his boots and paced around the small room. “I, no, _we_ will be heroes. Your contributions are not in vain,” he affirmed with pride, his accent ringing in Blue’s ears like a battle cry.

He then wished Blue farewell, leaving the room to attend other duties of his. Blue still stood in the middle of Comms, trying to take in what just happened, trying to figure out if making a bomb instead of contributing to daily tasks was worth it. _What is he talking about?_ He thought, _Why should I trust him with something like this?_

_Who do I even trust?_

—— ???

Silver was gathering dried vegetation near her ship for a fire. Even though Polus was a somewhat desolate planet incapable of hosting Earth’s life, it’s own life was unique and lively, although very different and eccentric. It was what Silver loved about it, even if she had to be alert for the wild parasites at all times. Even so, she loved nature, and always had sympathy for those red slithering creatures. Infecting hosts was simply their way of survival, and if nature let the parasites evolve in that way where they needed to infect to carry on the species, Silver had no problem with it. Even if she was the captain of her crew, she would usually research life on this planet in her spare time with her friends. 

She wiped the purple dirt off her helmet, and tilted her head up at the sky with her firewood in hand, looking up at the stars. It was a clear night, but a warm one as well, the inside of her suit already getting unbearable to work in. The weather on Polus was always unstable and irregular. Most of the time, it would be unsafe to take off your helmet, but sometimes the air would be perfect. Some days, it would be snowing and storming with ice. Other days, there would be heatwaves. Or, occasionally, windstorms; land hurricanes, as they called it. Unfortunately, tonight was one of those dreadful, humid nights.

Suddenly, she noticed a shooting star in the sky. _Strange,_ Silver thought, _we hardly get comets. It isn’t the time of year already, is it?_ She clicked the transmission button on her helmet so she could say something to her crewmate who was still collecting twigs behind her.

“Yo, Peach, when’s the next Zinso’s Comet? Over,” asked Silver into her helmet’s microphone. Zinso’s Comet was the name the crew had given the comet that would appear in the planet’s atmosphere semi-annually, but Silver could’ve sworn it wasn’t scheduled until a few more weeks.

A woman with burn scars and wide eyes that shined like gems, Peach, picked up Silver’s message on the receiver. “‘Fraid not for another… Three weeks, I think. Why?” She responded. Glancing over to the sky where Silver was staring, Peach stepped back in awe behind her.

“That’s no comet, is it, Peach?” Silver whimpered. “God dammit, that liar was right.”

Peach, still struck with awe, turned back to the ship, prepared to bolt. “I need to get Neon.”

Silver cackled, this time, to herself. “Oh yeah, he’ll love this. I can hear that nerdy mouth babbling on about that daughter of his already.”


	11. Landing

—— 4:39 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

Huddled together like they all were at liftoff, the nine crewmates sat in the lobby, inevitably waiting for The Skeld to land. This time, it wasn’t nearly as eventful at lifting off, as Polus’s atmosphere was thin, which made landing go much more smoothly. The ship soared through the lavender planet’s skies, before gently landing a few hundred yards away from the old crew’s ship on the alien soil, smoke emitting from the blasters as the blue fire from the engines cooled down and ceased.

In Navigations sat Red and Cyan who were piloting the ship. Once they landed, Red finally had the opportunity to speak and blurt out his thoughts. “I saw the scrap while passing through! It’s behind us!” He yelled, standing up from his seat and pulling up a back-camera view of the ship on his holographic screen. In the distance, four humanoids were slowly walking towards the ship, coming closer with each passing second. Survivors. Red smiled, closing the screen. Turning his head over to Cyan, he had just realized that the ship had settled, taking in the view from the glass shield. 

“We’re gonna break human boundaries today,” Red awed. “Let’s go get them,” he told Cyan, referring to the crewmates.

The co-pilot nodded with affirmation, and followed Red back to the lobby where everyone was still in their seats getting unbuckled. Red marched through the sliding doors like a strong gust of wind, turning around abruptly to where all the crew members were visible in his eyes. “Now, who’s time for some unpacking, building, and TEAMWORK!?” The captain cheered enthusiastically, before anyone had a chance to question his authority. “I know I am!” 

Everyone filled up on oxygen and put their helmets on, making sure everything was in check. Yellow even picked up her heavy machine gun, sticking to Cyan’s promise. Even though Polus’s atmosphere was somewhat plentiful in oxygen, it still had gasses and minuscule shards of mineral looming in the air, causing anyone to breath in these particles develop painful and sore lungs. The surviving crewmates from the previous mission had gotten used to it though, for their lungs had endured years of this painful process. All four of them walked up to the new ship without their helmets, waiting to welcome Mira’s “replacement” crew. 

Red gathered every crewmate in a crowd behind him. Yellow stepped forward slightly in front of Black and next to Red, ready to strike any enemies of hers down before she had to endure another traumatic alien experience.

Red took a deep breath, shutting his eyes and picturing this new world of theirs, before swiping his admin card through a keypad and opening the sealed door, the entrance to his new life.

Immediately, Yellow ran forward, yelling an inaudible sound through her helmet and nearly tripping over the staircase, ready for a battle against everything she was afraid of. But as quickly as she exited the ship, she stopped. In front of her stood a man with dark, out of control spiky hair, rectangular glasses, and a neon-yellow spacesuit. Dropping her weapon without a care for it, a single tear slid down her face. She turned on her helmet’s speaker so that the crew without helmets could hear her, “You… You didn’t tell me you were alive, Dad.”

Expecting a heartwarming greeting, maybe a sobbing monologue, Yellow was instead greeted with a wide smile and laughter, like her dad _wasn’t_ surprised they haven’t seen each other in years. 

“Well, well, well… Is it time already that I get to see my daughter again?” The man sneered, “You know, I was having a little fun with all this free time, you know! Wait, that didn’t sound right… Whatever.” The man burst out laughing, wiping away a joyful tear instead of a somber one.

Yellow snapped back, still choking in awe. “You think this is a joke? You’re not excited to see your daughter again?”

The man was surprised, not expecting his humor to be misunderstood. “What? No! I’m ecstatic! The last time I saw you, you weren’t this serious!” He said, still laughing until his lungs were eventually subject to the harsh Polus air.

“I…” Yellow paused, walking closer to her dad.

Quickly, he pulled her in for a hug. “It’s good to see you again, Yellow,” said the man, now with a more serious tone in his voice. “I always knew we would become astronauts together.”

Yellow, still at a loss for words, closed her eyes and fell into her dad’s grasp, as never-ending tears rolled down her cheeks. “Do you realize how many nights I spent crying? You never told me you were alive all this time!”

The man laughed yet again, this time with less enthusiasm. “I spent years trying to get a high-signal communicator to work. Nothing did. I’m so sorry I kept you waiting.”

Red broke from the crowd and walked further down the staircase, approaching the four surviving crew. “Hold on, Yellow. I am so, so sorry for ruining the moment, but you never told me your dad was on the old crew!”

“He was,” said Cyan, slowly walking towards Red and the others, the rest of the crewmates following her. “And I’m so excited to meet him. Neon Holdt, correct?” Cyan held out her right hand for a handshake.

Red widened his eyes with a shocked look as Cyan passed by. “What? You knew about this? It’s like everyone I know keeps hiding secrets from me!” He scowled.

The man stepped away from Yellow for just a moment, shaking Cyan’s hand. “Yes, yes! I am _the_ Neon Holdt!” He said with a prideful grin. “But… How do you know?”

Cyan’s surprised eyes quickly met Yellow’s. “Uh, me and Yellow are… Pretty close, you know!” She laughed nervously.

“Oh, so Yellow has friends now, hm?” Neon cackled, patting on his daughter’s back. He was still wheezing from the air, but he didn’t care about the particles; a good laugh is worth any lung injury. “Now, are you the captain, Light Blue?” He asked.

Cyan, who was beginning to become a little annoyed, responded, “It’s Cyan. And no, I’m the co-captain. Red’s the actual captain!” She awkwardly chuckled.

“Oh, oh, it’s an honor, Captain Red!” Said Neon, who was still amazed at the sight of new humans. “We haven’t seen a new squadron come in years!” He exclaimed with great eagerness and excitement, turning over to the other three next to him.

“We assumed Mira forgot about us,” the tall woman with a bun spoke, stepping over to where Red was standing. “Captain Silver,” she introduced herself, letting out her right hand.

“Captain Red,” he replied with a friendly yet competitive face. He shook her tight hand and yelped, feeling his own bones pop. “That’s… quite a grip you have there, Captain Silver,” he groaned, tugging away at her hold.

Silver deviously snickered. “You kids sure are amusing. And just so you know, ‘Captain Red,’ I’m the head honcho here.” She grumbled with a growing smirk. “Polus is _my_ planet, and don’t think I’m gonna immediately follow orders from a kid like you.” She let go of Red’s hand, which was throbbing with pain.

Red gasped and recovered, shaking off the aches in his fingers. “I’m the captain of my crew, you’re the captain of yours. Nice to meet you,” he hesitated, remembering what she had just said. “And I’m not a kid!” He could hear numerous muffled laughs from his helmet receiver. 

“Yeah, sure hotshot.” Added Silver, still with a joking tone. She never liked to get too serious, even in a survival situation. Meeting new people for the first time in years wasn’t too much of a surprise, and she didn’t really care, anyway. Her carefree attitude didn’t sit that well with Red, though.

The man with endless scars on his skin and curly hair, stepping aside with aloofness, carefully examined the other eight crewmates. “Who let all the rookies onboard?” He smirked with a deep, rumbling voice. He glared at the young boy with a green suit and a patch with a single circle on it. 

“Gold,” the woman in the peach-hued spacesuit sighed. “You’re literally the youngest out of us. Sorry, everyone, Gold can get a little… Sassy,” she apologized to the crew, resting a hand on Gold’s shoulder.

“Tsk. You sound like my mom, Peach.” He got closer to the crowd, and noticed some intimidated stares. Gold closed in on Green until his breath fogged the glass. “You wanna know how I got my favorite scar, kid?” He snickered, a wide grin plastered onto his copper-toned face. 

Green stepped back, careful not to trip on anyone’s boots. He was already terrified. Letting his hair out of the way, Gold showed the young Green his scratched-out eye on the left of his head, completely white and lifeless.

“Gah!” Green shivered, backing away into the group.

“If you wanna live on Polus, you gotta get used to them,” Gold sang with an almost evil tone. He hesitated, widening his grin even further. “The parasites.”

Gasps rang through the crowd. The crewmates were left disturbed from Gold’s words, their horror and visible through the tinted visors. 

“That’s enough, Gold,” Silver shot back. “You don’t wanna get rid of their hope already.”

Everyone started to quiet down, and Silver decided it was time to introduce her crewmates. Stepping forward on the dirt, she announced, “Well, I figured you’re all surprised to see the four of us here. Trust me, none of us are infected, because we’ve learned how to survive out here.” Turning her head, she pointed at each astronaut. “Everyone, this is Peach, Gold, and Neon. And if you didn’t catch it earlier, I’m Silver.” She said with pride. “I haven’t introduced that name to rookies in a long time,” she said with a smile. “Moving on, I’ve decided that all four of us will be helping y’all with unloading. Captain Red, take it away.”

Red was still taken aback. He was in the presence of the one and only _Captain Silver_. He had heard so many stories that he picked up while working at Mira HQ, and from White, about her. Apparently, she had wrestled a whole parasite with one arm, broken it, and still had the energy to keep moving like nothing happened. But, now wasn’t the time to admire, now was the time to lead. Red turned around to face his crew of astronauts, who seemed to be standing aimlessly.

“Alright. I know it’s been only a few minutes since we’ve landed, but I would like for everything to be done as soon as possible so we can get this ball rolling.” He paused, grabbing his tablet where all of his notes and ideas were stored. “Everyone, I would like to go over our daily plans now,” he informed. “We have a long few weeks ahead of us, and we don’t have any time to waste. Please keep socialization to a minimum as we build the outpost.” A tiny laugh escaped from his lips as he grinned with excitement. “No longer am I a pilot, but an instructor. I expect all of you to follow my demands!” He yelled with clarity and strength in his voice. “I hope everyone understands.”

As nods and determined faces formed in the crowd, Red kept going. “We will all play a part in this, helping set up the building in every way we can. We’ll start unloading today, making sure all the crates in cargo are out of the ship by late tonight.” Looking around, he made sure to yell one more thing before starting this daunting task. “Now am I crystal clear?”

The entire crew lifted up their arms in a salute, the words of “Yes, Captain,” ringing in the helmet receivers. They all stormed off into the ship to start unloading, while Red was taking his time up the steps. 

“Having authority is fun, isn’t it?” Silver asked, catching up beside him.

“You bet it is,” Red answered. “This is the best day of my life!”

Right before stepping off the last metal stair, Silver halted for an abrupt moment, suddenly remembering everything that occurred right before then. She remembered seeing Red’s crew, and a picture of it burnt into her brain. Looking around, there was laughter, greetings, a whole rainbow of colored suits all getting along. But the tall, antisocial friend that she knew wasn’t able to be seen. _Where is he?_ She thought, _Where’s White?_

“I just have so much to talk about! New inventions, new discoveries, possibly a new element for the periodic table! I’ll call it, parasidium! Because it comes from the neural network of parasites!” Neon exclaimed with whimsy, proud to share all of his accomplishments. He was helping Yellow move a gigantic box out of the ship. “Phew, I need a breather,” he whispered, gasping for the less than ideal Polus air.

“We can talk about it later, Dad.” Yellow groaned, taking the crate down the steps. “I’m not exactly in the mood for another one of your nerd rambles. Also, we have spare helmets! Do you want bronchitis or something?”

“Oh, but it’s a good nerd ramble! Did you grow out of your science phase or something?” Questioned Neon, curious as to why Yellow seemed uninterested.

Yellow paused for a moment, trying to think of something to say. “No, it’s just…” She hesitated. The thought of those creatures, the thought of studying them, soon overwhelmed her. She had just realized how close she was to actually being able to research parasites. It seemed like ages ago that the incident happened, and yet she still hadn’t gotten over her fear. She had a love for science, that was true, but that love was quickly being replaced with horror, all because of those aliens. She knew it herself; she didn’t want to be a scientist on this mission anymore.

“Um, Earth-to-Yellow?” Neon teased, interrupting Yellow from her thoughts.

“What? Oh, no! I love science, I… I’m excited to be researching the parasites!” She was obviously lying through her teeth, but she really didn’t want to disappoint her father.

“Okay then,” said Neon. “Oh, did I tell you about that one time that Silver and I fought off a horde of parasites?” 

Yellow set the crate down with several other of its kind, dusting off her gloves. “Yes,” she sighed. “You ended up getting beaten up, and Silver and Gold had to save you?”

“I… Hey! They’re stronger in the Polus atmosphere!” Neon scoffed. “I bet you haven’t had to encounter any.”


	12. Fear

—— THURSDAY, 5:28 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

About two weeks had passed since The Skeld crew landed on the home of the parasites, Polus, and made history for humanity. The eleven astronauts, now fifteen, had worked relentlessly to build the Polus Outpost. It was more time spent than Red had wanted, but through a group effort, they had all built a new home. Although the days were always pitch dark on the frigid planet, Red still liked to keep track of the time that it would be on Earth. As he exited the newly built Office and headed towards the ship, he lifted up his wrist and glanced at the small panel on his sleeve. _5:28,_ he read. _I’m getting hungry._

Walking up the stairs, he shivered in his suit and shook off the snow. It had been a long day, and all of his crewmates in the cafeteria were waiting for him so they could celebrate the completion of the base, and, coincidentally, their Thanksgiving feast. Red took off his helmet and dragged himself up the stairs, smelling the food that was prepared. It was most likely Lime and Pink’s cooking, judging by the delectable smell, for that duo spends as much time in the ship’s kitchen as they do in the Medbay.

Red opened the sliding door, and was greeted with Green’s joyful, “Hey!” Red smiled, happy to see his crewmates all in one place. It had been a while since they shared a moment like this. In the middle of the large, round table, was a platter of different salads collected from the native Polus plants, cooked astronaut meals, prepared sandwiches, bread, turkey, and pitchers of soda. It may not have been the healthiest, but when you’re galaxies away from home, cargo food is the best you can get.

“Took you long enough,” Silver huffed. “For food made in space, this looks amazing. I haven’t eaten a good meal in ages.”

“Yeah, you have!” Gold snapped. “Remember when Peach made that parasite stew with those crushed golden alien-tree leaves?” He drooled. “Oh, I just wish she could make that again.”

Multiple people across the table winced in disgust. 

Peach rolled her eyes. “You know how much hell I had to go through to get those leaves? They’re only occasionally in season for a few days a year. Also, it’s the Chloropolusplactodolis plant,” she corrected Gold with a grin. “I helped Neon name it, remember?”

Neon spun his head in surprise. “Me? Neon? Did someone say Neon?”

Red cleared his throat, silencing any conversation going on at the table. “Thank you, that’s enough, can I talk now?” He chucked, paused, and then took a deep breath, ready to go on a tangent about being proud after a hard day’s work. It’s what he did best.

“Everyone, I am so proud of you all. You have all helped humanity in such a tremendous way, and I can’t imagine another group as capable as this one.” He paused, shutting his eyes for a brief moment. “If only White was here to see this.” Silence struck among the table, with many smiles being faded away. 

_Good riddance,_ thought Yellow.

“But, we’re not gonna let a loss get in the way of future success!” Red reassured, trying to lighten the grim mood. “We’ve landed safely, we’ve found the previous crew, and we’ve built the outpost, and we’re ready to research,” he beamed, tilting his head at Yellow and Neon.

Yellow, flustered, slouched back down in her seat.

“Alright, I know I’m boring you all, you guys can eat.” Red sighed, shifting forward to get his meal.

Everyone smiled and started to chatter, grabbing their food from the center of the table and leaving almost nothing behind. It was a special occasion, for their diets had consisted of mostly microwave meals and coffee. The previous crew lived off of mostly parasite meat, even.

Silver stared down at her full plate, pondering. “So, White… He didn’t get the happy ending he had always wanted, I’m guessing?” She said with a disappointed tone in her voice.

Red put down his fork. “Yeah,” he answered, refraining from eating his food. “I never had time to tell any of you what happened during the trip here,” he said, looking at the four crewmates. “There was a parasite on our ship, somehow. It’s still a mystery, but long story short, White got infected and we had to eject him. It’s not something I like to remember.” He frowned.

“Oh,” Silver murmured, resuming to eat.

“None of us really like to talk about it, you know,” Red added. “It can get in the way of positivity sometimes. But, I do really miss him,” he said, choking away a tear. “Remembering that whole incident makes me believe I’ve failed as a captain.”

“Pfft,” Silver grunted. “Keep your chin up, kid. It gets hard sometimes, but I don’t feel like a failure. Heck, I saw seven of my crewmates get slaughtered right in front of me! All you gotta do is just keep moving forward.”

“Thanks,” said Red, still a bit sad.

“Hey, you guys knew White,” Purple chimed in. “Was he a good crew member to you guys?”

Silver sighed, putting down her fork. “Mostly,” she paused. “Sure, he was a great man. Smart, too. He helped us in a lot a’ ways, but in the end, that idiot left us.” She fumed angrily, as it was getting harder and harder to talk about White. “He was too selfish to care about any of us, and he took the last escape pod. That bastard,” she scoffed. “We had to fight the parasite on our own. We didn’t have enough time to land safely, and we crashed here,” she let out a laugh, wiping her mouth with a napkin. “Who knew that only four of us would survive.”

“It’s also how I got these scars, if any of you are wondering,” mumbled Peach. She lifted up her head and revealed her face, which was plastered with rough skin. Moving her braids out of the way, she continued, “When we crashed, a fire started on the ship. I was trapped, but Gold saved me before I could be burnt to a crisp.” She smiled. Gold looked away, trying to look tough in front of the others. He never liked revealing his soft side. “Don’t pretend like it wasn’t a big deal,” Peach yelled. “I could’ve died!”

“Yeah, yeah, I only saved you because it was the right thing to do,” Gold bickered, blushing out of embarrassment.

“Wow…” Marveled Green, taking a break from his sandwich. “You guys seem to have so many interesting stories! Can you tell more?” He asked eagerly.

Silver burst out with hearty laughter, stomping her foot against the floor. “Oh, our lives haven’t been that interesting,” she replied, “Actually, I was wondering if y’all could share some of your stories, instead.” Silver insisted. “Didn’t you just talk about a parasite on this ship, Red?”

“Well, it might be a sensitive topic...” Said Cyan, before being cut off by Brown.

“It’s how I lost an eye!” He bantered, about to lift up his eyepatch. Lime stopped his hand, reminding him that it wasn’t a good idea.

“Hey! Injured eye buddies!” Gold laughed, shaking Brown’s arm.

Red snickered, “Well, I got stabbed in the stomach, not by White, though.”

“Not White? By who, then?” Neon asked out of curiosity. 

Yellow could feel her regrets sink in.

“Yellow!” Orange chuckled. “She stabbed me, too! Remember, Yellow?” The look on Yellow’s face quickly sent Orange into a concerned frown. He was just joking around, but he didn’t expect this much of a reaction. “I mean, I forgive you. I totally understand where you were coming from,” he gulped.

Yellow sat cold and silent, dropping her fork into the bowl of salad in front of her. “I…” She tried letting out something, anything, but her throat refused. “It wasn’t my…” She stammered, “It wasn’t my fault, but…” Sweat started to drip down her forehead as the sounds of eating and cutlery ceased. This new emotion that she felt was entirely new to her. She knew that this moment would come, she knew that she would have to retell everything to her new crewmates and her dad, but she still felt so much regret. _I can’t do this_ , she thought, _What’s happening?_

“Yellow,” Said Neon, more serious than usual. The concerned expression on his face telling it all. “Is this a joke? What is it that you haven’t told me?”

Cyan started to get nervous as well, as she held Yellow’s hand below the table. Yellow started to drift from consciousness as her fears took control. _No, I can't just pass out here,_ she thought. _Why is no one saying anything? I thought you had my back, Cyan!_

“Excuse me, I…” Yellow stuttered. _What do I do?_ Holding in tears to avoid being more of an embarrassment as she already was, Yellow let go of Cyan’s hand and stood up from the table, pacing out of the cafeteria through the lobby stairs. Everyone stared as she left the conversation, puzzled as to what had happened. Red moved in his seat, ready to go after her, but Cyan stopped him.

“I’ll take care of it,” Cyan said, running after Yellow.

The table fell quiet as nobody knew what to say. Glances were exchanged, but not a single soul had uttered anything. Purple eyed the last piece of bread in the center of the table. “Is anyone gonna eat that?” She awkwardly laughed.

—— 

Yellow bolted into the locker room, panting from adrenaline. Strangely, she always felt compelled to come here for safety, but she still felt sick. “Why did I do that? She cried. Resting a hand on the smooth sink countertop, she glanced in the mirror. For a second, she felt the urge to shatter the glass, to finally let go, but she couldn’t. All she saw was the demented smile of an infected White. She yelped, stumbling back and bashing against the lockers. It was a hallucination, but it felt just too real.

Suddenly, the door opened. It was Cyan. “Yellow, what are you doing here?” She asked, making her way towards her nervous crewmate.

“Don’t you see it, too?” Yellow murmured, cradled on the floor, her eyes focused on the mirror in front of her. “Don’t you see it?”

Cyan turned to the mirror, but all she saw was a reflection. “No?” She answered. Walking over to the frightened Yellow, Cyan pulled on her arm and lifted her up from the ground. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Ha! What’s gotten into _me?_ ” Yellow shouted, her voice echoing in the room. “Everyone seems to be acting normal and having fun while I’m the one stuck in the same place…” She paused, taking a deep look at the mirror. She now saw herself covered in blood. “Why is everyone excited? I just wanna go home, Cy,” Yellow bawled, her knees trembling. She turned away, cupping her face into her hand. “When will it all just go away?”

Cyan paused for a moment, thinking of what to say, thinking of what she could do to comfort her friend. Sighing, she tugged on Yellow’s sleeve. “Please, just let me talk to you. Just this once,” she urged.

Yellow turned away, quivering her lips. Suddenly, she felt the urge to fight and stand up for herself. “No, I can handle this by myself,” she yelled impulsively. “I… I’m sorry for making you worry.” 

Cyan frowned. “It’s okay to get help, Yellow. I’m… always here for you.” She lifted her hand up to Yellow’s face, wiping off a film of sweat. Yellow immediately turned and walked away, exiting the room. “Where are you going?” Cyan asked, following close behind her.

“Well, I can’t just stay in there crying like a loser,” responded Yellow, still holding back tears.

“Can you just tell me what happened?” Cyan mumbled, following after her, passing the benches and door to the stairwell.

Yellow ignored her once more, and kept walking forward up the stairs. Everyone turned to see Yellow back in the flesh, though her eyes were narrow and sullen, her face bridled with rage and despair. Her and Cyan quickly sat down, trying not to focus on the confused stares looking right at them.

Yellow continued to eat. “Sorry everyone,” she sniffed. “I had to use the restroom, but I’m ready to answer your question, Dad.”

“You don’t need to do this,” Cyan interrupted.

Yellow, forcing her tears from falling, took a cold breath. Her throat was sore. “Yeah,” she sighed. “I stabbed Orange and Red. With a knife.” She kept explaining herself, her words gradually becoming harder and harder to spit out. “A few weeks ago, Cyan and I… I had to leave her for a moment to do a task. In electrical, the parasite found me… and…” Her face was a bright red by now, and everyone was staring directly at it. She kept going, accepting the fact that she was already a laughing stock. “The parasite told me that if I didn’t help it, I would be killed, and… I was so selfish… I put our whole mission in jeopardy… I’m just so sorry.” By now, the tears were already dripping onto her food.

Neon relaxed, taking a thoughtful pause, and smiled. “Oh please, don’t act like you’re some criminal! At least you didn’t kill anyone! Hell, I’ve killed two of my crewmates before in the name of science!” He snorted, looking up at the ceiling. “Oh, I’ll miss you guys, Crimson and Violet.”

Silver grumbled, rubbing her forehead in frustration. “Yeah, they were our _friends_ ,” she scoffed. “But you just had to carry on with your little experiments. What were you even trying to do?”

“I was _trying_ to create the ability of telepathy by rerouting the brain’s neural system!” Neon retaliated, raising his voice. “Unfortunately, that didn’t work. I’m not a good surgeon, you know. Hopefully in the future, we’ll all have metal skulls like my buddy, Max. Oh, did I ever tell you guys about him?”

“Dad!” Yellow exploded from across the table, fuming with anger. “Can you stay on topic? Do you realize how traumatizing running into that parasite was? How can you just go on about something else like that?” She sat up in her seat, casting a shadow over the table. She looked ready to strike Neon in the chin.

“Kid!” Yelled Silver. She looked more stern than normal, and that said a lot, considering the fact she always had a stern wrinkle on her forehead. “We don’t care! Parasites do stuff to ya’, I get it, but I’ve been through a lot, just like you. Once you get to my age, you’ll have to do a lot of things to survive. Don’t expect for that to be the last run-in with a parasite,” she picked up her glass and let off a smirk. “And... You’re a scientist, huh? Quite sensitive for one. If you wanna be studying aliens, you gotta act like it.”

Yellow shivered with pure anger, cupping her fist into a tight squeeze. “You take that back before I-“

“Yellow,” Red snapped with seriousness in his voice. “I’m sure Neon meant nothing wrong, please calm down,” he demanded. “Look, I completely understand what you went though, but I’m completely over it, and I completely forgive you! Haven’t we already resolved this a month ago?”

Yellow stopped, slowly descending back down. “I… you’re right,” she answered, calm and quiet. She wanted to speak out, do something, but she just didn’t have the energy. The warmth of Cyan’s hand, however, was enough to calm her down.

After a brief moment of silence and occasional chatter, Pink cleared their throat. “Well, hasn’t this been a splendid dinner?” They said cheerfully to cut the tension. They stood up and started to take everyone’s trays. “I hope you guys liked it…” They trembled their lips in insecurity, hoping nobody had anything negative to say.

Purple burped. “Hell yeah! You’ll have to make these sandwiches sometime again! I’m stuffed.” She handed her tray to Pink, standing up to stretch. 

“Oh,” murmured Lime. “We actually used the last of the ham supply. Sorry,” she apologized.

“That sucks,” added Orange. He sighed, “I’ve noticed we’ve been running out of most of the food, thanks Black.”

Black leaned back and giggled, “Hey! Sometimes I like a little midnight snack, alright!” After seeing a few frustrated stares, she frowned. “You’re telling me nobody else gets snacks at 1:00 AM?”

“Yeah, and soon your midnight snacks’l be dead parasites,” Orange argued.

Across the table, Gold laughed. “I can help you with that. This planet is riddled with wild aliens you can eat. But, I must say, the parasites in the hotter volcanic climate down south of here are tastier.” He stood up and yawned, running through his curly hair. “Anyone wanna go on a hunting trip tonight?”

“Let’s go to the forest, actually,” requested Peach. “The ones in there are easier to capture, and they’re calmer around this time, right?”

Red pulled out his tablet again. “Hey, the day isn’t done yet, guys,” he teased, catching the attention of everyone in the room. “We still have to get our work stations ready for tomorrow.”

Yellow paused, snorting water up her nose. She coughed, “What was that?”

Neon clapped with excitement. “It means get to be the head scientist and boss you around the Specimen Room, just like the good ol’ days!”

“Wait, hold that thought,” interrupted Red. “Specialists!” He announced, “Line up right here.” He pointed to the wall. Blue, Brown, Lime, and Neon all marched into position.

“Cyan and I have evaluated everyone’s performance onboard over the past few weeks, and I have decided groups will work more efficiently in our research,” Red clarified, “Under Group One, mainly focusing on tech, repair, and weapons, will be Blue, Black, Silver, and Orange. Group Two, focusing on communications and data, Brown, Purple, Gold, and Green. Group Three, focusing on health and bio research, Lime, Pink, and Peach. Group Four, focusing on direct research and contact with parasites, just Yellow and Neon for now. And finally, I have set up a task force that’ll observe the surface of the planet for research purposes later. That group‘ll be Silver, Gold, Peach, Neon, and myself. Oh, and, task force. Meet me in the lobby at around 8:30 or so. We’ll discuss a scouting mission I’ve planned for tomorrow, to map out the surface of the planet. Now, any questions?” 

Everyone quickly stood up to congregate with their specialist, but Cyan stood still. “Er, what will I do?” She asked Red, anxious as people started to leave the room.

Red put down his tablet. “Oh, sorry!” He apologized. “You stay here at the base, but since you’re the task keeper, you also get to run around and watch people do their job! Doesn’t that sound fun?” Red laughed. 

“Yeah, super exciting.” Replied Cyan, monotone. “Can I stick with Yellow for now?”

Red shrugged, allowing Cyan to do whatever she desired, and started following after the rest of them. Cyan budged in front of Blue and Black, stopping behind Yellow. “Why are you following me? Don’t you have more important stuff to do?” Yellow asked, clearly not wanting anyone’s attention, especially after what transpired before in the cafeteria.

“Well, Red told me I get to watch over everyone!” Cyan cheered. “I figured I could follow you.” 

Yellow grunted. “Alright.” 

The groups kept moving. When everyone had reached the lobby, they put on their helmets which were placed on the seats. The specialists and their teams all split up, spreading apart onto the snowy land. Neon, walking past Lime’s group, led Yellow and Cyan through the doors of the laboratory and entered decontamination. One by one, they all made their way through the chamber, ending up in a long hallway outside of the sealed door. In front of them was the path to the Specimen Room.

“Now, this is the fun part,” Neon exclaimed. “Ready to see some parasite samples, guys?” He paused, noticing that Cyan and Yellow’s footsteps had stopped. He turned around. “Guys?”

With a shocked look on her face, Yellow gulped. “I can do this, right?” Suddenly, it became hard for her to move. “Right, Cy?”

“You can do this!” Cyan smiled, “I believe in you!” After giving her best words of encouragement, she laid her hands on Yellow’s shoulders, pushing the sluggish girl through the tunnel. 

As Neon kept leading the group forward, he realized something. “You know, Yellow,” he sighed, suddenly becoming very serious, “I think I was in your exact position a few years ago.” Closing his eyes for just a moment, he pictured all of his memories in front of him. “Yes, it was after we crashed. I realized that, even if we had a wrecked ship as shelter, we still were living on the planet of the parasites. I realized… I wouldn’t be studying aliens. Instead, I would be fighting off against them.” He stopped in front of the specimen room door, turning his head to see his daughter. “Do you see where I’m going here? If you don’t want to be afraid of them, you have to stand up for yourself and just endure it. You gotta fight for yourself.” Neon opened the door with his keycard and covered his visor from the bright overhead lights. In front of all of them was a table with six tall test tubes on it, containing squiggly red creatures in colored liquid. Parasites. 

Yellow gasped, slapping the glass on her helmet, meaning to cover her mouth. “I… It’s…” She stammered. After six long weeks without seeing one of these creatures, it was finally time to reunite. It wasn’t a heartwarming reunion, though, it was more of a reunion where you want to chop the other person’s head off.

“They’re less scary up close,” Neon smiled. He put his hand on the glass, examining the red aliens with curious eyes. They were all very nonchalant and calm, floating in the colored fluid. It was strange for Yellow and Cyan to see them all at peace. For Neon, it was heartwarming. “Don’t you realize… They’re just like us. They wanna survive, and they’ll do anything to. Whether that be feeding off of native plants, or invading the body of an animal or human. They’re just so interesting.”

Neon spun around to see Yellow’s mortified frown. He took a deep and tired breath, and with a solemn tone he said, “It’s okay if you don’t want to be here. I get it.”

“But…” Yellow had so many things she wanted to say.

“I’m not disappointed in you. Not at all. In fact, I’m glad you’re scared. These critters are cute, but absolutely nothing to be messed with,” assured Neon.

Startled, Yellow took a step back, not expecting that from her father. She thought he was incredibly disappointed, especially after remembering that his only wish was to become astronauts together. In her opinion, he should’ve been disappointed in her. _He isn’t serious, is he?_ Yellow thought. _Surely, he’s always wanted a brave daughter, right? Damn. My brother should’ve been the gifted kid instead._

“How? I mean, you’ve spent your whole life studying space and science just to research the parasites with me,” Yellow snapped. “Aren’t I just one big failure?” She laughed sadly, turning around to exit the room.

Immediately, Cyan stepped in front of her to block the door. “I’m not letting you leave!” She trembled, her arms sprawled out like a giant blockade.

“Wow, you’re so kind,” said Yellow sarcastically. 

“Well, I’m the co-captain, so I get to boss you around!” Cyan argued, “And since I’m also the task keeper, and you’re not on task, I get to stop you from leaving!” She laughed, crossing her arms. “Red told me to take action in situations like these! Am I doing it right?”

Neon sighed, stepping forward to meet Yellow face-to-face, “You know, I’d rather have a daughter who’s confident in herself and willing to face her fears, than a daughter who calls herself a failure every two seconds.” He grasped Yellow’s shoulder tightly, spinning her around and placing her in front of the test tubes. “Ever heard of exposure therapy?” He laughed maniacally, as if he were about to show off a sparkly new invention.

“You’re not putting my hand in there,” Yellow raged, “Whatever you do, _do not_ put my hand in there.” She shivered away from her father, keeping a close watch on those aliens she had such a deep hatred for.

“He’s not gonna put your hand in there,” affirmed Cyan. She lifted her hand up to the glass as well, realizing the parasites weren’t actually as scary as she thought, either. “They’re actually pretty adorable,” she beamed, “despite being the bane of your existence.”

“How can you say that?!” Yellow seethed with fear. She was still hesitant to even get near the table, and was still contemplating sprinting out of the doors to go cry in one of the bathroom stalls. The second option seemed really appealing to her, right about now…

 _But, I’m a scientist, right?_ One part of her brain spoke out. It was an unexpected thought, even surprising herself. _It’s what I’m here for. I’m not a child anymore. I guess I do have to face my fears some day._

She turned her head to her dad, who was clearly having a blast with his new test subjects. She knew she couldn’t disappoint him. She turned her head to Cyan, who was smiling, as if she had no doubts or anger in her mind towards the deadly aliens. Yellow always knew her girlfriend had a heart of gold, but the fact that she was admiring the parasites of all things was baffling. No, Yellow couldn’t disappoint her. Not in a million years. She turned her head back to the tube in front of her and took a step forward. With each step, it felt as if a ton-heavy boulder was lifted off her shoulders. In the glass, she could see her own reflection. It appeared so sad and angry, and that’s not who she wanted to be. _I can’t disappoint myself,_ she realized. _Not again._

In one quick breath, she raised a hand to the glass, expecting it to shatter and have the excruciating experience that happened to White happen to her. Instead, all of her doubts washed away like a stream, and her throat finally felt empty. 

“What was I so afraid of?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Neon mentions someone named Max earlier in the chapter, someone with a metal skull. I was just mentioning one of my original characters. It was just a little easter egg for myself, I guess. lmao


	13. Betrayal

It was relieving.

It was relieving to see those squiggly creatures act calm for once.

It was relieving to see them _not_ threatening to take her life. 

It was relieving to realize that they were nothing to be afraid of.

It was relieving to realize that Cyan was okay, her dad was okay, she was okay.

It was relieving that she didn’t have to live in fear any longer, for now.

It really felt like everything was okay.

Yellow wished this moment had lasted forever. She wished this brief moment of peace could’ve gone on for longer. Because for just a moment, it really felt like fear didn’t exist at all.

Until the doubts suddenly came back, and the parasite in front of her started to grow.

Yellow shrieked, pulling her arm back, feeling betrayed. This is what always happened, anyways. She should’ve expected it, for everyone and everything had betrayed her. First, her own father, Neon, after being under the impression that he was dead for the last four years of her life. Second, her own girlfriend, Cyan. The one who made her realize who she truly was, the one who made her realize what love and friendship truly was. Oh, Yellow could never forget what happened that Saturday in the admin room. Third, White. He was considered a father figure among the younger astronauts on the ship, and a mentor to all of them. Yellow could never forget how quickly that changed after he was infected. Oh, that mental scar will never heal. And fourth, the parasite. Yellow thought she was safe. After being so motivated to touch the glass, after being so motivated to finally take action and face her fears, that wretched monster tricked her again.

In that moment, Yellow felt so helpless. Everything was just so helpless. _You bitch,_ her inner-self screamed.

“The parasites are controlled by emotion!” Shot Neon, placing a hand on his daughter’s back. “I am so, so sorry for not telling you sooner! I only found out about it a few weeks ago after encountering a nasty one out in the snow fields.” 

Yellow wasn’t the happiest after receiving this important news, especially after believing she would be torn open and shredded apart in an instant. “What does that mean?” She huffed, catching her breath. Taking a glance back at the tube, the parasite was squirming around. Yellow could only guess it was hungry, trying to scare it’s prey.

“It’s how they infect. It’s how they get the name ‘parasite.’ They can read emotion, they take advantage of their prey, and they destroy,” explained Neon. “They’re smart and manipulative creatures just like us.”

Yellow scowled, turning away from the table. “You could’ve told me that.” She paced around the room, trying to catch a breath. Looking out the thin windows, it looked like there was a snow storm starting.

Cyan noticed that someone was calling her, and that the speaker next to her ear was ringing. She pressed the transceiver button on her helmet, “This is Cyan, over,” she answered.

“It’s Red, is your group done yet?” The transmission crackled.

Cyan looked at Neon, who was across the room starting to sort out paperwork next to one of the tall file cabinets. Then she looked at Yellow, who was waiting next to the door, extremely eager to leave the room. “I’m not actually sure,” replied Cyan.

“You guys can leave,” interrupted Neon, busy with his datawork. He threw a couple behind him, creating a tornado of whirling papers around the lab. “I would never trust you kids with my valuable research, anyway!” He chuckled.

Sluggishly, Yellow got up from the wall and swiped her keycard next to the door. “Let’s go, Cy.”

“Are you sure?” Cyan checked, hesitant to leave.

“Yeah,” sighed Yellow. “I’m done here.”

They both waved Neon goodbye, although he didn’t notice at all. Yellow strolled through the hallway, face forward, as if she had just lost something very important to her. Perhaps her honor.

Cyan caught up and bumped her in the arm, “Hey, I’m proud of you!” She gushed.

“For what?” Yellow replied angrily, “I… I didn’t even do anything, alright.”

“You touched the glass,” insisted Cyan, turning around at the door of decontamination to face Yellow, “and that’s something. I mean, you couldn’t even hear the word ‘parasite’ three weeks ago without freaking out.”

Yellow paused in her tracks, ready to counter what Cyan said with something stubborn, but she kept quiet. Yellow realized that this whole time, she had been so defensive and critical of herself. Maybe she should focus on the positive, she thought. After all, she promised not to disappoint Cyan. If she did, she would be even more disappointed in herself. Why had she been so stubborn?

“I guess you’re right,” Yellow admitted. _Why was that so hard to say..._

“That’s the spirit!” Cyan cheered with joy, patting Yellow on the back. She stepped forward, and while Cyan went through decontamination, Yellow stood outside the room.

 _How does she do it?_ Yellow thought to herself, _How does she stay so positive? Does she realize we could die here? I wish I wasn’t such a jerk. I really don’t deserve her, do I?_ Before Yellow could lose her mind daydreaming again, it was her turn for decontamination. She quickly met back up with Cyan in the lab, but Lime’s group seemed to have left, since the Medbay was completely empty. They both exited the laboratory, when suddenly, a dark figure could be seen standing behind the storage room wall a few meters away. The falling snow raged around them, making it hard to identify anything in the dark.

“Who’s there?” Barked Yellow, stepping forward in front of Cyan to protect her if there was any immediate danger. As the figure emerged, she relaxed, recognizing the dark spacesuit. Brown. What was he doing here?

“Hello. Cyan, Yellow,” Brown welcomed, sounding more friendly than his distant self usually was. Yellow was still suspicious. No matter what, it always seemed like Brown was up to something. “I would like a word with you, please,” he asked Yellow, “It’s nothing bad, but I would prefer if it was just you.”

Cyan shrugged and started walking back to the ship. “See ya guys later.”

Once they were both alone, nobody else in sight, Brown waved at Yellow to follow him. He turned the corner and slipped into the small and dimly-lit storage room, taking out a small cardboard box from the top shelf. Behind him, he heard Yellow take a step inside, shaking off the snow on her suit. He turned around, putting the box down on the floor.

“Is it okay if I talk to you about something?” Brown asked, trying to seem curious and innocent.

Yellow was skeptical. More than skeptical, actually. Frightened. And although she did consider Brown a pretty close acquaintance, he never really seemed like the type to have a random discussion in a storage room. Maybe he was just asking a question, who knew. _Wait,_ Yellow glanced around the room, checking for any weapons, any signs of blood, or anything that could indicate a trap. _Is he gonna kill me?_ Hesitant and a bit slow, she replied, “Sure...”

Brown took a deep breath, getting his thoughts ready. He put a poker face on. “I saw you out there, Yellow. You’re still afraid of those monsters, are you?”

Yellow almost took a lunge back. She could’ve never expected that statement from anyone except Cyan. She had been so caught up in what Cyan had always told her and what Cyan always did with her, that she failed to realize other people knew about her deadly fear, too. Before she could say anything, Brown spoke up again.

“Wait, wait, I promise it’s not as creepy as it sounds, because I am, too!”

Yellow’s shoulders relaxed, and she took a small step forward. “What do you mean?”

“Believe it or not, I’m smarter and more observant than what you and everyone else may think,” he explained. “I noticed how everyone at the table ignored your traumatic experience like it was nothing, I noticed how nobody seems to care that both of us almost died.” Brown paused for a moment, putting his hand up to the patch covering his left eye. “I lost an eye, for goodness sake! Do you know how hard my life has become because of the parasites?”

Yellow could tell that Brown’s words came from a place of meaning. And even if Brown’s mission was to use Yellow for his own plans, he wasn’t kidding when he said the parasites made his life harder.

“Yeah, I understand,” Yellow consoled, lowering her voice to a soft pitch. “You’re being ignored, too, aren’t you?”

Brown nodded. He picked up the heavy box from the floor again. “Yellow, I know this seems like a daunting task, but if you feel in danger, I made this just for you and me,” he pulled out the bomb that looked like a normal parasite repellent, showing Yellow the different wires carefully. Yellow was intrigued, and had no idea what components laid behind the plastic surface. Brown explained all about the wires; how the button starts the timer, how cutting the white wire would stop the timer, and how cutting the black wire would result in immediate use. Instead of telling her that cutting the black wire would result in a deadly explosion, he instead told her that the explosion of _repellent_ was toxic to humans, and that the timer should be used to get away before the acidic smog could eat through your suit and lungs.

Yellow laughed maniacally, just like her father would. “Oh, I like the sound of this,” she giggled, ignoring all the safety issues that this repellent could cause, and instead focusing on how many parasites this thing could kill. Her fears settled back in, but it was quickly replaced by Brown’s manipulation. This feeling felt familiar. 

“But, I must remind you, this shall only be used in important situations,” Brown asserted, wrapping the bomb back in it’s bubble-wrap casing. “I wouldn’t want it to be used on a whim. Maybe we can use it against a horde for safety, you know?”

“You got it!” Yellow beamed liked a child on Christmas day. Even though she was happy that she got an opportunity like this, she had the strange feeling that Cyan wouldn’t be very proud. _Don’t worry about Cyan,_ she thought, _You’re your own person._

“The box will stay up here, always ready to be used,” Brown added, stretching up to the top shelf to put the box back. Before leaving, he stopped next to Yellow, “And, you do trust me, correct?” 

What a strange question, Yellow thought. She still had a lot of doubts in her mind, especially after the betrayal of the parasite back in the specimen room. Anyone could betray her at this point. But, Brown seemed so charming. He knew what it was like to be attacked by an infected crewmate. He was in her shoes, ready to take action whenever the parasites could threaten the livelihood of the crew. He made the repellent, and she knew that Brown would be disappointed if he lost a valuable ally. For the first time in a while, Yellow thought she could actually trust another crewmate.

“I trust you.”

Brown grinned genuinely. “Good. I know what it’s like to be betrayed before, too,” he said, before leaving out the door.

 _Can he read my mind?_ Yellow thought. _No, that’s ridiculous. I’m not living in some supernatural story. Get yourself together._


	14. Scouting Mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, there’s some violent scenes later in the chapter involving parasites. So, once again, read at your own risk. There’s also violence with guns and stuff like that, so just be careful if you’re sensitive to those kinds of things.

—— FRIDAY, 1:02 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

Silver tousled one of Blue’s handmade machine guns that was resting over one of the lobby benches over her shoulder. “This’ll do,” she said, grabbing extra ammo and putting it into her backpack.

Red was anxious to go on this scouting mission, mostly because he was surrounded by older people who actually knew what they were doing. He was used to being a parental figure to _his_ crew, but now that Silver’s crew was a part of the team, Red felt so awkward, like he wasn’t supposed to be there. But, a captains’ gotta do what a captains’ gotta do. “Is everyone ready?” He asked, turning his head to face Silver, Gold, Peach, and Neon. It was more than enough people to scout the land. After all, Silver always bragged about how easy parasites are to kill.

Everyone nodded, but before they could leave, Yellow burst out of the lobby door, gasping for air. “STAY SAFE, DAD!” She yelled, before going back inside.

“She’s exactly like you,” remarked Silver, bumping Neon in the shoulder.

“A little too much,” Neon laughed.

With their weapons ready, the task force all set out on their mission across the purple soil. The snow storm earlier had subsided, so it was easier to see across the snow fields, especially with the lights that the helmets conveniently had above their visors. They walked past the research buildings, past the fences, and past the pools of hot lava until they reached the wilderness. In the distance were mountains and even snow-covered treetops. No parasites in sight, though.

Red marveled at these new organisms. Every once in a while, he would slow down the whole group by stopping near an alien plant and asking what it was. Neon was always willing to tell Red _everything_. The other crewmates, however, were getting tired of their holdup. 

“Looks like we have another nerd,” Silver muttered under her breath, resuming on their trek.

Hours passed. It was hard trudging through the snow and rocks, above hills and around pools of lava, but once they reached the forest, it was strangely quiet, and no animals or parasites could even be found. It was a relief to everyone else except Neon. He pointed to his tablet, “My data shows that they _should_ be active on a night like this!” He whined.

“Well, they aren’t, okay?” Gold snarled, getting tired of his friend’s voice already.

“No, Gold, you don’t possibly understand!” Neon stuttered, ready to defend his knowledge at the sake of anything. “In vicious snowstorms, like the one that happened earlier, small animals get trapped underneath the snow and thin ice. Parasites are usually ravaging these fields, trying to get their spikes on anything they can eat.”

Peach giggled, making Gold feel even embarrassed. “I think you should trust Neon, here. He knows more about Polus than you do common sense.”

“HEY!” Gold exploded, about to punch through Peach’s visor. Instead of flinching, she just laughed.

The crew’s banter was quickly interrupted by a beeping noise coming from Neon’s tablet. “Seismic activity?” Neon questioned. A strange notification for planetary rumble left him at wits end. “But… We’re not anywhere near a fault!”

“Did you say something a few weeks ago about the plates actin’ up?” Asked Silver, still walking forward.

“Uh, that was about volcanic activity,” corrected Neon, slightly annoyed by Silver’s narrow judgment. “This is about an earthquake. Earthquakes can’t happen here, the nearest plates border around 58 miles away.”

Gold twitched, getting nervous at this strange occurance. He looked over Neon’s shoulder, eyeing the small red dot on the GPS map. “Why is it coming closer?” He asked even more anxiously.

Immediately after Gold asked, hundreds of bugs and small critters that could fly escaped the forest in one big stampede, ignoring the five humans who were all petrified. Red strings and limbs flung across the sky and above the treetops, catching alien animals in their grasps. Sounds of dying and rage could be heard, and the crewmates wished they could cover their ears.

“This is like nothing I’ve ever seen,” Neon gasped, perplexed as to what was even going on. 

“What in the hell is going on in there?!” Exclaimed Gold, shaking Neon out of his tranced state. 

“I…” Neon tried forming an answer, a possible explanation as to why there were dozens, maybe even hundreds of parasites on a massacre inside the forest, but this situation completely contradicted any of his previous data. “They are mad. I can recognize that emotional response from anywhere. I think they can… Feel us?”

“Do they know about the outpost?” Asked Silver, trying to keep calm while the ground shook below her feet. This wasn’t the first time she had to act quickly in a confusing situation like this. She didn’t want them all to end up like White did.

Neon yelped, overwhelmed by all the noises and questions and contradictions. “I don’t know, I don’t know, I don’t know!”

Red bolted forward, his leader instincts kicking in. “Get your guns out!” He ordered the group. With adrenaline, he slung the machine gun off of his shoulder and started to load it.

“What are you doing?!” Asked Peach, tugging on Red’s suit sleeve. “We have to run, now! Before they get us!”

Red almost burst out laughing, “They already know about us. If we don’t kill them all, the entire crew back at the base will be slaughtered. And I’m not letting a single crewmate die again,” he promised with valor and conviction in his voice.

The parasites inside the forest raged on and on and on. The stampedes of animals began to slow down, but the hostile slithering sounds began to speed up. 

Red already regretted his decision to fight. “Fall back!” He cried with every ounce of courage he had. The group ran about seventy feet back, until they all turned around to face the barricade of crimson monsters. The hissing aliens made their way outside the forest, growing bigger and bigger as they could sense the fear struck on the crew’s faces. 

“Th-These aren’t just small red snakes anymore, are they…” Stuttered Gold as he lowered his gun. “I… I DON’T WANT TO DO THIS ANYMORE! I WANNA GO HOME!” He wailed, about to turn back and make a run for it.

Peach slapped him hard on the helmet, and pulled his suit close against her chest. “Get yourself together, man! You’re a human first, parasite food second! Now are you gonna avenge Crimson, Violet, White, Sage, Navy, Magenta, Sapphire, and Khaki or are you gonna be a loser who dies with no honor? Give me a fucking break!” She fumed with persistence, trying her best to knock some sense into him. She pushed Gold aside with force, and stepped forward to stand with Red. “I love you, Gold, but this is our family we’re fighting for.”

The crew stood in a line, their weapons in hand. Red waited for the right moment to strike. He put out his hand across the group, stopping them from moving forward. He counted in his head, _One, two, three, four,_ as the rampage of parasites grew closer in their horizon. _…Ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen…_

A moment of silence could be heard, a moment of absolute tranquility as the aliens stormed closer. They were only about twenty feet away when Red screamed into his microphone, “Now!”

The five machine guns flared up, and nothing but gunpowder smoke and explosions were visible through the crew’s helmet glass. The parasites shrieked and croaked, a lot of the smaller ones being pulverized into dark red liquid. The bigger ones, growing taller than the astronauts themselves, wouldn’t cease. 

“Keep firing!” Red shouted.

The crew, with the force of a full army, took out at least 200 parasites before falling back even further. “Shit!” Red yelled. “Whatever you do, don’t stop firing!” He turned his head, and behind him, a tentacle lashed out beneath his feet. He was barely able to avoid tripping on it. “Please don’t stop firing!” He ordered the group to fall back even more into the snowy hills, and they wouldn’t stop until they thought of some sort of plan.

Silver stopped running and turned to face the rampage. “There’s too many of them…” She realized, her arms growing more and more tired. Silver wished she could just rest and get back to Earth safely. She hadn’t seen that precious home of hers in years. She wondered if her parents were okay. _I wish I just settled down and started a family instead of this,_ she regretted. _Everything is just so hopeless now._ Silver, lost in thought, noticed the tight squeeze of a parasite’s grip on her ankle, she screamed, smashing the creature with the barrel of her gun. Gasping for air, she turned back and caught up with Red. “Kid, I want someone to go back and alert the others about this. The rest of us can keep fighting. I know we can.”

“Okay… Who do we choose?” Asked Red, still full of energy even after running a whole marathon.

“I can go,” Peach insisted.

“What? No!” Gold begged, “I… I can’t let you go. I mean… You’re… You’re valuable to us!”

“Maybe I’m valuable to you…” Said Peach, “But if you guys get infected, I can whip something up to cure you all. I know I can. Lime and Pink are geniuses, and I know we could find some type of antidote.”

“Who’s saying we’ll get infected?” Asked Neon, still overly confident like he usually was. “I can go back,” he said, becoming more serious-toned. “And… Imagine how devastated Yellow would be if I died out here.”

“No, you can’t,” Silver scowled. “Neon, you’re our toughest crewmate, and you know how to handle a gun. You’re an excellent fighter and a genius in combat, too, not just in the lab. We need you.”

“I guess you’re right,” said Neon, slowly and thought out. “I just hope that co-captain friend she has takes care of her while I’m gone.”

“She’s stronger than you think,” added Red, trying to cheer Neon up. “I don’t think she needs her dad to be bossing her around,”

“Besides, I think Yellow’s in good hands as long as Cyan’s taking care of her. Those two are inseparable.”

The five of them were quickly getting tired trying to outrun the stampede, and it was only a matter of time until all of them would be infected, or even worse, killed. They needed to make a decision, and fast. Red knew that, but he wasn’t willing to go back. He couldn’t leave the rest of them behind, and he would sacrifice himself just to fight the parasites off. _I wonder what White would do,_ he thought.

“I will go,” Peach demanded, about to run off back to base. “I’m a good runner, I can make it!”

Everyone glared at each other blankly, concurring to Peach’s decision. Silver stepped forward before Peach could escape, and placed a hand on her arm. “We’ll be back soon, Peach. Don’t give up, alright?”

“Peach,” Neon came forward before she could start running, “Parasidium can cure almost any ailment caused by the parasites, remember that. There’s hundreds of vials in the specimen room. Use my research to your advantage.”

Neon wanted to say more. He wanted to inform Peach about all the things he’s researched about the element, all the things you can do with it, but there just wasn’t enough time.

“Go!”

Peach nodded, and immediately bolted towards the faraway lights of the outpost, across the vast fields and hills of snow and dirt.

Silver turned back around, facing the vicious wall of monsters. “Now, show me what you got!”

The astronauts kept firing and firing until their ears went numb. Red still had enough adrenaline and courage to keep fighting, and there wasn’t a single ounce of regret now. He knew he would make it out of here alive.

Until the hostiler parasites became immune to the blasts.

“What is this?” Gold yelled at Neon, perplexed as to why their guns were now less effective than before. 

“I… I don’t know!” Neon answered, splatting one beneath his boot. “This is irregular for them!”

“We have to stop focusing on what we think they are and start focusing on what they’re doing!” Red commanded, pulling strings upon strings of limbs off his sleeve. “We can do this…”

Gold took a step backward, but his ankle buckled on a rock. He stumbled onto his back, and the parasites started huddling around him like a swarm of vultures.

“Gold!” Neon screamed. He put down his gun, and tried helping him out the cesspool of aliens. Gold grasped onto Neon’s arm for dear life, groaning from the pain of hundreds of little spikes pelting through his skin.

But it was too late, both of their suits had ripped, and Gold and Neon were now infected.

Silver tried her best to keep standing, but the weight of her gun was too much. She fell to her knees, and the aliens started to eat away at her suit. She turned her head slowly to Red, who was farther back than all of them, still firing like a madman. “Red… I need you to go back to the outpost… That crew needs you.”

“No, I don’t!” Red refused, reloading more ammo into his worn-out gun that was hot to the touch. “I… I’ve already come this far!” To the parasites, his doubt could be read from a mile away. The ones around him started to become violent and grow taller, protruding spikes out of their red exteriors. They all swarmed around him, forming an impenetrable wall.

“Please… Cyan…” Red prayed with his last amount of energy, “Keep everyone safe.”


	15. Parasidium

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, just wanted to warn, there is some gross stuff later in the chapter, and a lot of swearing from this point on. Be careful if you’re squeamish.

Peach didn’t stop running. Even after hearing the sounds of firing stop, she still kept sprinting north, determined to tell everyone that the other four crewmates were in trouble. She trotted up a snowy hill and looked down to see the lights of the outpost shining in the horizon. It was a beautiful and relieving sight, especially after running a couple miles. She kept going, bolting past the lava pools and research buildings until finally reaching the back stairs of The Skeld. Cyan, Lime, and Pink, still in their work gear, were having some kind of conversation in the lobby. Peach took off her helmet, bending over and heaving for air. Dizzily, she made out the words, “Red… Silver… All of them… They’re in trouble…”

Lime immediately rushed to go help her. She took off her glove and felt Peach’s cheeks, “Dear Lord, you’re cold! Sit down and tell us what’s happening!” She put her hand around Peach’s hips and helped her across the lobby to the benches. Then, she quickly dashed to the locker room for a cup of water. 

“Thanks, Lime, you’re the sweetest,” thanked Peach, gulping down the water like she hadn’t drank in years.

Cyan went over and kneeled, meeting Peach eye-to-eye. “What happened? You say they’re in trouble?” She asked, trying to keep calm and collective. On the inside, she was already starting to panic.

“The scouting mission… Was a failure…” Peach gulped, still trying to catch her breath. “We ran into a horde of parasites… And… They weren’t acting normal, Neon said… They were angry… We tried fighting them off but there were too many… Our guns didn’t work… I had to run back to alert you guys about it… Oh, I’m so sorry…” She started to tear up. Covering up her ashamed face, Peach added, “I think I was the only one not infected… They might all be dead… Oh, I’m just so sorry…”

Crewmates who were already done with the day started to trickle into the room from the sleeping quarters in their pajamas. Among that group stood the tall and obviously-not-ready-to-receive-news-of-her- potentially-deceased-father Yellow. Cyan glanced over and almost gasped. She shot worried glances with Lime and Pink, “I…” If Red was gone, she would have to be the one to lead. Quickly, her anxiety started to snowball. “This is unbelievable… I… What do we do?” She begged them all for suggestions or answers, but they were all silent.

“What’s happening?” Pink trembled, circling around the co-captain and head-medic. “They’re… They’re stuck out there?”

Yellow broke from the crowd and looked down at Cyan with an emotionless face. “Don’t tell me…” She paused, clenching the bottom of her shirt with cold fingers. “They didn’t… Didn’t they…”

Peach, now more hydrated, interrupted the silence of the crowd. “There was… There was an armada of parasites out there, miles away near the forest. Once our bullets stopped working, they started attacking us with force like I’ve never seen. I was the only one who made it out of there,” she informed with panic shaking in her voice. She looked at Yellow, who was still riddled with terror, and remembered what Neon had said. _…Imagine how devastated Yellow would be if I died out here._

“Yellow,” Peach sighed, “Your dad…”

Yellow’s eyes swelled up with tears before Peach could even finish. Cyan noticed, and immediately wrapped her arms around her. “I am so, so sorry. Please don’t lose hope yet,” she comforted, running her fingers through Yellow’s silk blonde hair. “We’ll find a way to get them back.”

“No… No, he can’t be dead, there’s no way,” Yellow denied, almost laughing. “He may be infected, but there’s no way he’s dead.” She pulled away from Cyan and stared at her face with worry, expecting an answer or some clarity, but everyone was silent. Yellow then walked away from the whole crowd, her hands behind her head.

It was getting to the point where she couldn’t trust anything anymore.

Peach continued, informing Cyan about everything she saw, heard, and knew. “Neon’s running theory is that the parasites know about the ones in the specimen room. He’s always talked about them having some sort of hive mind… For years, actually. I think those parasites out there are angry, and they don’t want us messing with their kind.”

Cyan started rubbing her eyes out of stress, ignoring the smudging of her eyeliner.

Yellow’s footsteps could be heard from across the lobby, exiting the locker room. She had just put her suit back on, which really perplexed Cyan. “Why do you have your suit on?” She asked. Realizing how determined Yellow seemed earlier, she raised her eyebrows. “Don’t tell me you’re gonna look for them!” Cyan yelled; not out of anger, but out of concern.

“No,” Yellow sighed, walking towards the opening of the ship. “I just need to take a walk, that’s all.”

——

Under her somewhat collective exterior, Yellow was furious. No, furious was an understatement. She would always try to hide her anger, especially after the incident on the ship a month prior. But, she could physically feel herself spiraling out of control, and she couldn’t help it at all. It was silly of her to think that she could’ve trusted the parasites, it was silly of her to think that everything was okay, and it was silly of her to even come here in the first place. 

Out of options, she went to the storage room, where Brown was patiently awaiting her.

“I want to use the repellent now,” she ordered, coming closer to Brown, who was organizing something near the bottom of the shelf. Afraid of any rejection, she added, “Peach said that they’re connected to a hive mind. If we use the repellent in the lab, we can keep the violent ones far away from here.”

“I see…” Brown grinned with the box now in his hands. “Let’s do it. I trust your senses.”

Just as Yellow and Brown slid out the storage room door, an agonizing scream echoed through the entire valley, making its noise heard from the dropship. Alarmed, but still collective, Cyan turned around promptly. “What was that?”

Another scream echoed, “Help…” The deep and brash voice dwindled, like a fire slowly dying.

“Someone’s out there!” Green exclaimed with slight enthusiasm, still having the energy to perform at least 100 more tasks. He broke out from the crowd, and for some reason, he still had his suit on. About to run off into the darkness of the planet to find the source of the screams, Green spun around at Cyan, awaiting an order.

Cyan was surprised to see a ‘weaker’ crewmate like Green so ready to jump to action like that. No one liked to admit it, but most people on the crew left him out of a lot of activities just because he was seen as the baby of the ship. Green, however, just wanted to make himself seen. He was tired of sitting back and being a bystander, and he was tired of being just another rookie. He supposed now would be a great time to prove himself.

“Alright,” Cyan said, standing up tall and patting herself on the thighs. “Green, let’s go.”

They left the outpost and made their way into the snowy hills, trying to find the source of what made the scream. Was it a trick? Peach had said that she was the only one to make it back. Could the rest of them have survived? About half a mile out, the sound of ruffling (perhaps from a nylon spacesuit) could be heard more clearly and loudly.

“Help…”

Cyan looked down atop the hill, and was struck to see Red clawing his blue fingers - without gloves - up the slope. He didn’t have his helmet on, and his face was flushed with an assortment of different colors. Blue, black, red, purple, maybe a bit of green; it was clear that he wasn’t doing so well.

His legs were gone. Both of them, up to about the knee, looked ripped off. He had left a trail of blood on his path.

“What the fuck?!” Green screamed with terror, turning his face away from the bloody amalgamation that was Red’s lower half.

“Watch the profanity.”

“WHERE THE FUCK ARE RED’S LEGS?!”

Cyan grasped onto Red’s arms and rested his body on her shoulders. “Grab his other arm.”

Green stood in shock. He dizzily turned aside, “I think I’m gonna hurl.”

“Just grab his arm, you idiot! He’s gonna die!”

Reluctantly, Green slung Red’s arm across his back, and both him and Cyan shuffled back down the hill with Red now in their possession. Careful not to slip, they made it back to the outpost as quickly as they could. Watching them come in, Lime, Peach, and Pink all stepped down from the dropship and immediately came to Red’s aid. The group rushed towards the laboratory door, ran through the hallway, and put Red down on one of the Medbay beds. Lime grabbed a stethoscope from the counter and unzipped his suit, checking the pulse from his chest.

“Is he alive?” Green asked, standing aside while the medics were doing their work.

Lime wrapped the stethoscope back around her neck. “Yes, but… He’s not going to make it that long. His heart rate is slowing down…”

“I’ve got it!” Peach declared before anyone else had a chance to talk. “The parasidium! The element that Neon discovered! He told me about it before I came back. It can reverse the effects that a parasite’s done on a human!”

Lime and Pink both glared at her with perplexed looks.

Peach groaned. “By the looks of it, a parasite destroyed his muscles from the inside… Poor guy… But he’s not infected. We can still save him.” She left the room quickly, but immediately came back with a few vials and papers from the specimen room. “Parasidium… Can restore a human’s natural structure if ingested,” she read off one of the papers. Peach then opened a small vial of thick, red fluid and put it up to Red’s mouth to drink.

“I don’t know what you’re doing, but you know more about Neon’s stuff than I do,” Lime said, surveying Red’s heart rate on one of the monitors.

Like magic, Red’s open wounds started to steam. Rapidly, both of his legs were gradually growing back, bone and all. His fingers turned back to a normal beige color, and his face was no longer flushed with purple. As each second passed, new skin was formed, and more bones were materialized.

Green took several steps back, taking a quick break to breathe in the hallway. “What the bloody hell…”

Cyan and Pink were left baffled, jaws open to the floor.

“W-Wha… Bu… But his legs… His legs were gone!” Cyan stuttered, pointing at Red’s brand new right foot. It looked very shiny, as his leg hair hadn’t fully grown yet. She kneeled down and poked at his big toe, and sure enough, it was real. 

Lime was surprised indeed, but more happy that her captain was alive and well, thanks to that strange element. “Parasidium, was it?” She wondered. “This is truly like nothing I’ve ever seen. They don’t teach you this stuff in med-school.”

Peach giggled lightly, setting the empty vial down on the counter behind Lime. “Neon is the most genius person I know. I would’ve never expected him to find out the secret to regrowing limbs, though.”

Red, who was now more alive then he ever had been, started stirring around to Lime’s relief. “What just happened…” He groaned, lifting his head up to see Lime, Pink, Peach, Cyan, and Green looming over the bed, observing his every move. “Well, I guess I’m not dead…”

“Red, do you remember what happened out there, out on the scouting mission?” Questioned Peach, holding his hand, which was still pretty cold even after healing.

Red hummed, having trouble trying to remember anything. It just happened so fast. “I… I remember a lot of yelling, shooting, and running, but that’s about it.”

“Can you tell us about what happened to your legs?” Green asked politely with a shake in his voice, still astonished at what he just witnessed. He was actively trying not to throw up.

Red wanted to laugh, but his throat still hurt from all the screaming. He suddenly remembered what he said during the fight, and the broken promises he made. His eyes lowered, and his throat became more sore with sadness and guilt. _I left them out there…_

“I’m such a bad captain,” he mumbled, rubbing the tears from his eyes. It finally settled in that he was back at base now, and that means he gave up. His friends, most likely dead, were out there in the cold. He could’ve kept going. He could’ve found a way to win, and he could’ve found a way to bring his crewmates back to the medbay to heal them. Why was he even alive right now? Why was he being seen as some sort of hero? 

“I was almost eaten, actually. But, remembering all of you, and remembering everyone else on the crew, I guess I sorta found the courage in me to run from the parasites… And some of the small ones latched on. I suppose they burrowed inside my leg or something, so they ate it up before I could even make it back home,” explained Red, mellow and somber, different from his usual speaking voice. He lifted his head up at Green, who seemed amazed at the story. “I hope that answers your question.”

“Wow…” The young and timid Green glared at Red, and then back at himself. He wished he could be as brave and strong as his captain one day. “Did it hurt?”

“Of course it hurt!” Red laughed, ignoring the sharp pains from the new nerves in his feet. “Hey, I think my feet are waking up.”

“Well, that’s good news!” Cheered Lime, very proud of what her and her team of medics had achieved. She had just written down a description of the situation on her tablet in a memo, and pressed the ‘send’ button with great confidence. “This is going straight to HQ. I mean, parasidium could be like, the entryway to a whole new world of medical possibilities! Where does it even come from?”

Peach giggled again, “From the parasites themselves. It’s what makes them so… Magical.” She said with a hushed voice, waving her fingers around. “The matter they leave behind evaporates, so that’s why Red’s limbs were steaming so much. It’s also how they grow, shrink, make spikes, all that jazz. But, we still know barely anything about it.”

“I mean, that’s what we’re for, right? To study that stuff,” Pink added with a beaming smile. “Oh, I just know this mission’s gonna be _so_ fun.”

“Wait, so, Does that mean that Red is part parasite now?” Green trembled, cautiously inching away from the bed.

Peach sighed and scratched her head, “Well… We still don’t know a lot about it… But since his legs are the _product_ of ingesting it… I guess you could consider him part alien!” Peach chuckled, but Green was more disturbed than amazed.

Cyan rose up from the floor and patted Green on the shoulder, yawning. “I think we should leave the doctors here, they know what they’re doing. I need some sleep, how about you?”

Green nodded. “Sure.”

As they walked back to the ship, Green was still riddled with anxiety about his brother. It had been weeks, and he still had no clue what was going on with Brown. He tried piecing together evidence; like that one morning in Security where Pink had found decades-old data, or that one time at headquarters before liftoff where that sketchy file landed on his feet. He couldn’t forget what Brown had said, either. _I’m only here to find out the truth._

Green really wanted to tell his co-captain something about his brother’s suspicious acts, but… It was just too early. Brown could be planning a surprise party, for all he knew. There wasn't enough evidence.

Besides, everyone could trust Brown.

Green broke apart from Cyan, and began trudging down the path towards the Admin building.

“Where are you going?” Asked Cyan in a concerning voice.

“I have to go check on my brother. I’ll be back in a sec.”


	16. Trust

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some violence later in this chapter, so as always, read at your own risk.

“I… I just don’t understand,” the voice asked.

Green, walking along the shoveled path, noticed a warm light coming from the Admin window and the soft sound of human voices. Intrigued, he came closer to the doorway, trying his best not to be noticed.

“Why? Why did you convince her that it was a repellent? And why aren’t you trying to get away? Are you just going to die here?” The voice was now recognizable as Blue. What was he doing here, though?

“I never wanted to do this, Blue,” another voice responded grimly, which was too familiar to Green. He now realized that Brown was in there, as well. “But if I’m going to end all their lives in fire, then I’ll burn, too.”

Green quietly tiptoed across the doormat, coming closer to the sounds of arguing. He peeked to the room next over, where Brown and Blue were standing over the keycard table. Blue’s face was distraught and full of disgust, but it was hard to see Brown’s. Green squinted, and noticed tears streaming down his brother’s cheek. Brown never cries…

“Stop it with the remarks, comrade,” Blue snarled, “You’re not answering my question! Why are you doing this?”

“Why don’t you understand!?” Brown screamed, raising his voice so even the stars could hear him. “I told you, I don’t know! I didn’t want to do it!”

“Well, this isn’t some game anymore, Brown!” Blue turned away, leaving towards the entrance where Green was eavesdropping. “I’m gonna be the one to put a stop to this… I can’t believe I ever helped you, you monster.” He quickly put his helmet on, and started pacing towards his exit.

Green, flustered, ran out of the building before Blue could sense his presence. Out of breath only after a few meters, he turned around. Sure enough, the tall and intimidating Blue was right behind him already.

“You’re brother’s a pain in the ass,” Blue grumbled. Before he could walk back to the ship, Green tugged on his sleeve, and told him to wait.

“What is it? I don’t have all day!”

“About Brown. What is he doing? I need to know. He’s up to something, I wanna help you stop him.”

Blue sighed, coming closer and kneeling down to meet Green’s eyes. “He convinced Yellow that his bomb was a parasite repellent, and now they’re going to blow up this entire outpost. I need to tell Red or Cyan right now, or else we’re fucked.” He got back up, and before running off, he told Green, “Follow me if you want.”

“WHAT?!” Green yelled, almost passing out in the snow, from anxiety _and_ loss of breath. “Out of all the things I suspected, he’s going to BLOW US UP?” He was gasping for air, leaving his oxygen tank almost empty. Suddenly, he started bolting past Blue, stumbling around the corridor of buildings until he found his way back to the ship.

“Cyan?” He called out, opening the door to the sleeping quarters. The crewmates in there gave him strange looks. Turning around, he dashed to the locker room, “Cyan?” He called out again.

“Yeah?” She answered, muffled. She was brushing her teeth.

“You… You…” Green ripped off his helmet, “You have to trust me, here. Brown has a bomb, and if we don’t stop him now, Yellow’s gonna blow the base up.”

Cyan spit out her toothpaste, coughing. She put one hand on the sink. “Yellow?”

She knew this couldn’t be good.

——

_I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna do what’s right. I’m going to avenge Dad._

Yellow, bomb in hand, slowly walked up to the Specimen Room table, ready to extinguish the foul beasts that brought her so much pain. She thought what she was doing was right, and there was nothing that could stop her. Not even Cyan could stop her.

It made her feel like the most powerful person in the world.

She opened up the backing of the supposed repellent and pressed the small metal button, starting the timer for five minutes. It ticked down, _4:59… 4:58… 4:57…_

Yellow swiped the hairs out of her face, took a deep breath, and finally felt calm. She set down the device and took a much needed step back.

She then heard the sliding door to the right of the room open, it was Brown. With a friendly smile and wave, he strolled over to the table. “Did you do it?”

“Yeah. I did,” she answered, but not happily. She took off her gloves and rubbed at her eyes, “I don’t know… This just doesn’t feel right.”

It didn’t feel right. Not at all. She thought about what a setback this was for the entire crew, and how killing the parasites in this room meant that research would have to take a halt. She was a scientist, after all. She went on this mission for the sole purpose of studying and collecting data for the sake of humanity and discovery, but after she heard about what happened to her father, Silver, Red, and Gold… Maybe this whole astronaut thing wasn’t a good idea.

But using the repellent meant that she would be giving up, and she hated giving up without a fight.

Brown got defensive, “This is what we wanted, Yellow. This is what _I_ want, and even if you don’t like it…” He paused, sucking air through his teeth, “This is our only option. No… This is _my_ only option.”

“What do you mean?”

“I… I… I’m doing this because…”

Suddenly, like a quick thunderstrike, Cyan, Blue, and Green stormed the room from the north door. Blue put Brown in an armlock, pulling him back into the wall.

Brown refused, breaking out of Blue’s arms and stumbling backwards into an artifact box.

“What the hell?” Yellow snarled with confusion, backing away from the fight.

Cyan met Yellow’s eyes with surprise and relief. She placed her hand over her mouth, and rushed forward to kiss her. Sifting through Yellow’s hair, she gasped, “Thank goodness you’re okay, I was so worried…” 

“What? You’re kissing me _now?_ ” Yellow was happy that she was reunited with her girlfriend, but also puzzled, why would Cyan be worried?

Cyan grabbed the bomb off of the table, “We need to throw this in the lava pit, before this entire place explodes…”

Yellow scoffed, “What? Explodes? No, no, you’re mistaken! It isn’t a bomb, it repels parasites.” She smiled, gazing into Cyan’s alert eyes. “Brown and I are protecting the outpost, not destroying it…”

“That… Isn’t… A repellent… Yellow!” Blue grunted, taking a breath in between each word, still struggling with the resistant Brown.

Brown wiggled his right arm free, and with an uppercut, he struck Blue clean in the chin. Blue wobbled backwards into the wall, making sure his jaw was still in its place. Brown turned around and backed away from everyone, but he bumped into a desk, which left him slightly cornered.

Green, with more anger than he’s ever let out, slammed his elbow into Brown’s stomach, making him bend over in pain. This bought Blue some time to make it over to the table where Yellow was standing.

“Yellow, you have to believe me here. I created this bomb, and I know how it works. I need to put an end to this, this was all my fault.”

Yellow looked back down at what she thought was a repellent. A bomb? It couldn’t be. Brown lost an eye. He was permanently affected by the parasites, just like her. After all, why would he want to blow up the outpost? That would be just pure evil, more evil than the parasites themselves, and Brown was not infected. Still in denial, she shook her head. “It’s gonna take a lot more to convince me to destroy it. My dad’s probably dead!” She yelled, raising her voice louder than the fighting going on behind her. “It’s up to me to protect everyone. After all, I couldn’t protect myself against White… Why should I let everyone else experience what I did?”

Blue scoffed, showing her the small indentation on the back of the plastic. _Blue Kuznetsov._ Sure enough, it was Blue’s signature. He then went further to prove himself, prying off the plastic surface and showing a cold metal exterior. “The plastic is a diversion, it’s really an explosive.”

Yellow couldn’t believe her eyes, but more importantly, she didn’t know who to trust.

On one end, there was Cyan and Blue. On the other end, there was Brown and Neon. A dilemma that tore her two ideals apart. If she followed Cyan and Blue’s wishes, putting all of her trust in them, that would resume all research, making it the best option for humanity and discovery and therefore fulfill her purpose as a scientist, but leave the entire crew susceptible to the parasites in the wild. If she followed Brown’s wishes, and put all of her trust in him, it would setback all research but protect the crew.

But then she realized that nobody can be trusted. Anyone could betray her, just like the parasites did. All she had left was herself, and…

Cyan placed her hand on Yellow’s twitchy and nervous arm, “Yellow… I trust you to make the right decision.”

Yellow, her eyes struck with mortal fear, glanced down at the timer. _3:01… 3:00… 2:59…_ Her face grew more pale by the second.

“Leave… The repellent… Be!” Brown commanded, pushing Green down to the floor and grabbing the collar of Blue’s suit.

“Cyan!” Blue yelped, struggling around in Brown’s grasp. Brown was a strong man, not afraid to get defensive _or_ offensive, and Blue knew that. He panicked trying to squirm out of Brown’s arms.

Cyan leaped back over to the fight, pulling on Brown’s long arm to try and stop him from hurting Blue any further. “Green! Get Red, or just somebody else!” Cyan ordered, leaving just the four of them all in the room. 

Yellow glanced back at her mechanism. She didn’t know what to call it anymore. Repellent? Bomb? Device? For a moment, she disconnected from everything going on around her, pondering at her decisions. To a normal person, this would be a no-brainer, to her, it was a life or death situation. She turned her head around to the last person she could ever trust. “What do you think, Cyan?”

“Yellow, just… Make the decision that you feel is right,” Cyan sighed, disregarding any possibility of death, but instead leaving all of her faith into Yellow. Because even though she didn’t want to admit it, the world she lived in was cruel. Anyone could be an impostor, even Blue or Green. The bomb _could_ be a repellent, and tricking them into thinking it wasn’t could just be their way of playing games. Cyan and Yellow believed in one another, and both of them knew that. Even though it was the most risky option, it was the most rewarding option. Trust.

Yellow clenched her fists and tightened her face, “That doesn’t help at all!” Turning back around to the test tubes, tears started streaming from her eyes. _God, this always happens, doesn’t it? Can I even make a decision?_

She took a deep breath, went back over all of her options. _Leave and let it go off, throw it in the lava, turn it off completely…_

She raised her arm, and with the force of a thousand parasite armadas, she threw the mechanism against the hard wall, completely shattering the device and rendering it useless. It steamed and sparked for just a little bit, and then settled down. The bomb was completely destroyed.

It was spontaneous; but it was her choice, and she trusted it.

Yellow walked past the fighting, past the test tubes, and kneeled down to pick up the remains of the device. A broken atom splitter. She recognized it from anywhere. Maybe making makeshift bombs with your dad as a twelve-year-old actually comes in handy sometimes.

Now, Yellow knew. She knew that Brown was a liar, and she knew not to waste her trust again. It was the most peaceful she had felt in a while.

She laughed. She laughed until her lungs hurt, and she laughed until it distracted her from what she truly felt. “You’re such a fucking idiot, Brown…” Yellow exasperated as she walked over to the worn-out crewmate.

Brown, who was on his knees, looked up at Yellow’s presence. She loomed over him with great disappointment, before kicking him straight in the nose.

She grabbed him by the collar and punched him again, this time in his working eye. His face swelled up, but he kept quiet, knowing he had been defeated. Yellow then let go, letting him rest on the cold floor. “Pathetic, I can’t believe I trusted such a bad liar. You’re a fucking fool!”

Cyan put her hand gently on Yellow’s shoulder, trying not to escalate the situation further. “That’s enough, Yellow! Please, I just don’t like seeing you angry… And we need answers from him, you can’t just kill him right here.”

Green then stormed back into the room with Red, Pink, Lime, and Peach behind him. Red was in crutches and in a new suit, appearing like he only sustained a scratch in the scouting mission. Yellow, however, didn’t even know that he was back.

“HUH?” She gasped, “But I thought you… Weren’t you out there? Wasn’t Peach the only survivor?”

“I can explain later,” replied Red, much more stern than he normally was. He then raised his voice, closing in on Cyan, Yellow, and Blue. “I need to know what happened here, _now._ ”

The three of them looked around at each other blankly.

“I’ll give you the run-down,” Blue volunteered, stepping forward. Was he proud of what he did? Absolutely not, but he was a man of his word. “Brown convinced Yellow that the bomb was a parasite repellent, and she was going to use it because _she_ thought it would keep away the wild parasites. You know, the ones that attacked you guys on your mission. The good news is, she never used it, and she destroyed it before it could explode.” He gave her a genuine pat on the back, which felt pretty rewarding.

Yellow handed the explosive to Red, which was a mess of broken pieces and metal, and he observed it with surprised eyes. “You made this, Blue?” He asked, more curious than angry.

“Yes, I did,” Blue answered with a disappointed tone, “and I take complete responsibility for it. I trusted Brown, he told me to make a bomb, so, I did. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t thinking it through, Captain.”

“That’s just your part of the story…” Whimpered Brown, resting on the floor, his back to the wall.

Yellow was already tired of his whiny voice. She crossed her arms and looked away from him.

“Don’t worry. Thankfully, Green told me a lot about your story before coming in here,” Red smirked, placing the bomb fragments back in Yellow’s hands and gliding over to the beaten-up Brown. After glancing at him for a second, Red then raised his chin at Blue and Cyan, “I’d like you guys to place him in the tank storage, for now. I’ll go talk to him later. I guess everyone else can just go to bed. It’s late.”

“Yes sir,” they both affirmed, lifting Brown up from his shoulders.

“It’s been a long day, just call me Red.”


	17. Secrecy

—— 9:50 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

“Does it hurt?” Asked Cyan, grabbing the last band-aid off the bathroom counter and sticking it on Yellow’s right hand, on the tip of her pinky finger.

“No,” Yellow replied, sniffing her nose. “I could’ve punched him at least a hundred more times.” She dangled her legs off the surface she was sitting on, kicking around aimlessly out of boredom.

Cyan laughed, washing her hands and cleaning the drops of blood off the counter. “Well, maybe grabbing onto the sharp metal from a broken bomb isn’t the best idea, either.” 

Yellow let out a puff of air, then hopped off the counter. She was about to exit the room when Cyan stopped her, “Uh, where are you going?”

“You always have to know where everyone is,” Yellow chuckled, turning back at the overly-concerned Cyan. “Relax, I’m just gonna steal some chips from the kitchen before Black can.” 

“Oh, okay, well, I’ll be in my pod.”

Yellow stepped outside the locker room, and she felt the cold metal floor of the lobby almost freeze her feet. _Ouch, ouch!_

Upstairs was quiet. Nobody really used the ship anymore unless they were going to bed, or getting food. Yellow tiptoed around the tables and snuck through the kitchen, grabbed the chips that she knew Black liked, and snickered deviantly. She would always choose the meaner option in life, just for a little laugh. Was it kind? No, but it was funny.

She quietly got back to the lobby, and opened the sliding door to the sleeping quarters. Not all of the crewmates were in there, some were still doing work out in the outpost, but Yellow tried to avoid waking anyone up, anyway. She got to Cyan’s pod on the lowest level and climbed right in, “Want some?” She asked, holding out the loud bag of potato chips.

Cyan looked up from the book she was reading, “No thanks, I just brushed my teeth.”

“Pfft, that’s the most ridiculous thing ever,” Yellow scowled, placing herself right next to Cyan and trying to get comfortable.

“You don’t follow the basic rules of dental hygiene?”

Yellow laughed, “I’ve had braces for five years of my life. _Five_. And my teeth are perfectly fine now, thank you very much.” She smiled, revealing all of her teeth, which were pretty stained and… Not the straightest.

“Hm, it’s strange, actually. Out of all the weeks on this mission, I’ve never actually seen you brush your teeth,” Cyan joked, letting off a smirk while she flipped a page.

“Uh, what?” Yellow countered, setting down the bag in her hands, “Now that’s just not true.”

Cyan placed her book in the pod’s cubby, pecked Yellow on the cheek, and hid under her blanket. “If you say so… I’m going to sleep,” she yawned.

“Already?” Yellow scoffed, crumpling the bag and placing it on Cyan’s book. She undid her ponytail and flopped down beside her.

“Yeah, it’s been a stressful day.”

“How so?”

Cyan raised her head back up and leaned over. “Well, I had to carry Red to Medbay, witness magical limb regrowth, then stop you from setting off a bomb, if that counts.”

Yellow looked aside, a sad look falling onto her face, “Oh, yeah…”

Cyan could tell something was wrong by the way Yellow sounded. “You’re still disappointed your dad’s out there, are you?” She asked gently while brushing the hair off Yellow’s face.

Yellow nodded, silent.

“...And that it wasn’t a repellent after all?”

Yellow nodded again. 

“We’ll find a way to get them back, I promise,” Cyan assured, still mesmerized by Yellow’s shiny hair. How was it always so perfect?

“I know we will,” Yellow insisted with confidence. This time, she wasn’t making any lies. “Oh, and I’m not scared of them anymore, by the way. The parasites.”

Cyan glanced at her, confused, but ready to listen.

Yellow resumed, staring straight up at the ceiling. “Because they’re the only way that I can get my dad and the rest of the crew back. Now that I know Brown was lying, the last option is to experiment on them myself. I’m excited to learn about them.”

Cyan smiled, relieved that Yellow’s huge phobia was gone. She knew a lot about it, too. She could recall countless nights where Yellow couldn’t sleep, or just didn’t sleep at all, leaving the two of them wandering the ship alone or just talking for hours on end. She would really miss those nights. Not that she was disappointed that Yellow had overcome her fear, but it was really the fear that brought them closer together.

And, Yellow was thankful for all of Cyan’s help, because she was the only one who listened. She was the only one who didn’t mind the midnight walks, and she was the only one who reached out. Cyan could’ve easily reported her, back when she caught her stabbing Red, but she didn’t. Instead, Cyan listened and helped. Yellow realized that she wouldn’t even be alive if it wasn’t for her, which left her with the aching question…

“Hey Cy… Why did you even help me in the first place?”

Cyan stirred in the bed, more than surprised to hear that question. “What do you mean?”

“You know, back when we were flying here,” Yellow answered. “When news got out that somebody was infected, everyone became distant and unfriendly... But not us.”

Cyan sat up. “Yeah, I see what you mean…” She replied, sounding disappointed.

Yellow rose up and huddled in a ball, “You trusted me. You trusted me from the start,” she then gulped, trying to make out her words. She hadn’t done anything like this before. “And when you caught me, you know, trying to kill Red, you didn’t judge, you listened. And back in the specimen room, I mean, just yesterday, you didn’t pressure me to touch the glass, and you didn’t pressure me to stay. Oh, and I was about to use a bomb, for God’s sake! Why aren’t you mad? It’s like nothing’s ever happened, and you’re just being so nice, and…”

Cyan looked away, brushing off the energy drink cans and random junk off of the shelf. “I guess I just knew what it felt like. You were in a situation you couldn’t control, and I was, too.”

“What?” Yellow widened her eyes, not expecting a statement like that.

Cyan kept going, “You remind me a lot of my sister, you know. Actually, you guys are really alike. And… I’ve had to help her my entire life, which made me into a really responsible and easy to talk to person, I guess. A lot of people say I’m good at listening.”

“Yeah, you are,” Yellow pondered, “But what do you mean by, help your sister?”

Yellow noticed the small picture on the shelf next to the book and chips. Cyan gently swiped it into her hands, gazing at it with nostalgia. “This is my sister, Azure.”

Yellow leaned back and observed the picture more clearly. It was a photo of two girls. Cyan, who was standing over a hospital bed, and Azure, who was lying down. Azure looked very happy, but also very sickly, and her entire head of hair was white. She had what looked like a million IV’s put into her arm. “How old is she?” Yellow asked.

“She was thirteen in this picture, but fifteen now,” Cyan answered sadly, keeping her eyes on the photo, and feeling the old paper within her palm. “I really miss her… We would do everything. She was practically my second half, the only thing that kept me going, you know?”

“She sounds really nice…” Yellow expressed genuinely, noticing how fond Cyan was of Azure. She somewhat wished she could’ve had that kind of connection with her brother at home.

Cyan continued, “Four years ago, she came down with this really strange illness. Doctors didn’t know what it was, and she was the only person in the world that had it. It made her skin frail and her hair turn white, and it’s made the past four years… Challenging, to say the least. She wanted to be an astronaut, too. She had big dreams and wanted to study aliens just like you, but, it’s a shame she’ll never be able to.”

“Is that why you became an astronaut yourself?” Yellow asked, already intrigued by Cyan’s sister that she’s never met. “Did you do it for her?”

Cyan took a moment to think. “Well, partially, but it wasn’t the only reason. My dad really wanted to fund the research for the illness she had. Since no scientists in the world were studying it, he made it his life mission to cure her. I mean, I applaud him for caring about his daughter, but it would get really scary. In my freshman year, I came home with a failing grade, and it was like… Like I crushed his dreams. He told me that if I didn’t improve my grades and if I didn’t get a good paying job in the future, all of the money that he spent into keeping Azure alive would be for nothing.” She took a deep breath and rubbed at her eyes, which was now a habit. She never told anyone about her family, not even Yellow, so it was just strange uncovering this secret she’s been holding in for so long.

Yellow slumped into the pillows and sighed, “What did you do? It doesn’t sound happy…”

“No, it wasn’t,” Cyan answered angrily. “My mom… She died when I was just six. I would come home almost every day, and see my dad crying. And with the loss of my mom, Azure’s condition, and the fact that we just never had a lot of money, I felt really bad, and I wanted to help in some way. I worked a lot of jobs, and my whole life just became about saving my sister.”

“Oh,” Yellow commented, somber and tragic, like she was heartbroken to see Cyan so unhappy. She brushed against Cyan’s soft hand, “That sounds awful… Your mom… I… I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay, I promise. I never really knew her, and I remember her not being the nicest to my family, anyway,” Cyan acknowledged, cracking a smile to show Yellow some stability. 

“Well, I never had the best relationship with my mom, either,” Yellow awkwardly laughed.

Cyan looked back at the picture, now observing her younger self. “But… Even though I was working all of these part-time jobs, I wanted a good long-term job after college, but I never had time to study. So, I cheated. I cheated on everything. I faked my way through highschool, and…” She took a deep breath, expecting the worst, “I cheated on the Mira Entry Test.”

“You what?” Yellow gasped, turning her head in shock. “The MET? But… Every astronaut has to pass it! You’re saying…”

“I’m not supposed to be here,” Cyan spoke before Yellow could continue. “I’m not qualified to be here at all. I wanted to become a captain because it’s the highest paying position, not because I actually want to. I don’t actually want to be here,” she croaked, very disappointed that Yellow had to hear that secret she’d been keeping for so long.

Yellow shook her head in denial, “No, no, you’re more than qualified to be here. You’re a great leader, a great co-captain, and you saved my life, multiple times! You’re more than I, no, _anyone_ could ask for. Why don’t you wanna be here?”

Cyan looked away, choking back tears. It was hard for her to even breathe. She stayed quiet, having no idea what to even say.

“Cyan, I would be dead if it weren’t for you…” Yellow said, quiet and hushed. “If you quit, we’ll never see each other again… Am I worth staying?”

“Yes, of course you are!” Cyan snapped, letting more tears fall down onto her shirt. “I’m so thankful I met you, it’s just… I feel so guilty.”

“You shouldn’t be,” Yellow consoled calmly, trying her best to comfort her.

“No, Yellow, you don’t get it,” Cyan refused, “At my school, only the top ten seniors could qualify to take the MET. I remember… There was this girl. She was smart, pretty, sorta popular, and she wanted to qualify _so_ bad. She would constantly gush about her dreams and… I really admired her for it. Once the end of the school year came around, they revealed the students who were qualified to take it. I came in tenth, and she…”

“Came in eleventh?”

“Yeah.” Cyan slouched down into her blankets, hiding her face out of shame and embarrassment. It felt humiliating to tell her own crewmate that she wasn’t even legally allowed to be a co-captain, or even be in space. But, it did feel relieving to get it off her chest, and she knew that she could trust Yellow with anything.

“No, it’s… It’s really okay,” Yellow sympathized, “You have to help Azure, I get it. I know what it feels like, too. You know, doing something extreme just to save someone you love.”

Cyan looked at Yellow straight in the eye, “Promise you won’t tell anyone, okay?” She lowered her voice, careful so that nobody outside the pod could hear her, “If this gets out, especially to Red… I won’t get paid after this mission and I’ll be in huge trouble.”

Yellow nodded fiercely, “Everything’s safe with me. I mean, you helped me cover up attempted murder, I guess I can repay you.”

Cyan smiled, and her whole face turned cherry-red. Shedding a tear, she leaned forward and kissed Yellow on the lips. “Thank you,” she sighed, rubbing against Yellow’s smooth palms, “...For listening, too.”

Yellow giggled, “No problem, you know I’ll do anything.”

“Is that why you almost killed us all twice?”

“Uh, okay, that’s enough. Goodnight.”


	18. Discovery

—— SATURDAY, 6:00 AM, MIRA HQ TIME

“GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD MORNING!”

Red pressed the small button on the wall, which opened all the pod doors. He then grabbed the microphone, and yelled again, “WHO’S READY FOR SOME WORK?”

Some people were up and ready just from the sound of Red’s alarming voice, some were still reluctant to get out of bed.

Cyan jarred awake. She reached over, expecting to feel Yellow, but was surprised when the spot next to her was completely empty. _Strange,_ she thought, _She’s always the last one awake. Maybe she left me after I fell asleep…_

“After everyone gets ready, I would like all of you in the Cafeteria for breakfast so I can give some… Important announcements,” Red informed. He was about to leave the room, when he saw Cyan sitting at the edge of her bed. He leaned his head over. “I expect a future captain to be more energized in the morning!” He joked.

Cyan got up groggily and scratched her face. “Sorry I… I think I stayed up all night talking.” She then processed what Red had just said, “And what do you mean future captain?” She asked.

Red glared at her, confused. “Uh, I mean, you know you’re gonna be a real captain one day, right? It’s a part of training to wake up early.”

“Oh, yeah…” She looked away, remembering what she spilled to Yellow the night prior. If Red knew about that secret, who knows what trouble she would get into. 

“Well then, let’s get moving!” Red cheered with energy, moving with his crutches out of the dim room, completely oblivious as to what Cyan was hiding.

Cyan stopped him before he could get out. “One last question, do you know where Yellow is?” She wondered.

“Oh, she got up before me,” Red answered in a surprised tone. “She’s doing some studying in the Specimen Room with Blue, I believe. If not, who knows where she went.”

Cyan exhaled. She thought about how ironic it was that she pushed Yellow away at first, and how she was the one that wanted to focus on work, but now that girl was all she thought about. She was also less than prepared to start the day. The last two days felt like such a blur, and with the added threat of the parasites attacking at any time, she always had to be careful. It was so tiring.

 _Just get through this,_ she told herself, _So I can get my money and go back to Canada._

Breakfast on the ship was not exciting. After months of being in space, dried out cereal with powdered milk and pulpy orange juice didn’t taste as good as it used to. A lot of people just drank a few cups of coffee as a substitute, instead.

The disappointing breakfast was also made even more dreadful by Red’s news. Most of the crew didn’t even know what happened after the mission, so it came as a shock to find out that,

1: Brown and Yellow almost set off a bomb,

2: There was an emergency; they needed to find a way to kill the parasites.

Red stood tall above the emergency button. “Everyone, please don’t panic, we’re finding a way to handle this situation,” he announced to everyone, “With that being said, I need Cyan, Green, and Pink to come with me, please.”

Cyan and Pink shrugged at each other, and threw away their trash before following Red out the Cafeteria door. Once they were out of the ship, Cyan realized what they were all following Red for. It was a hearing, so they could all gain perspective on what Brown’s intentions were with the explosive. Red then stopped at the entrance to Electrical, and before entering in his keycard, he turned around and said, “Let’s make this quick, okay? Best case scenario, we will be able to forgive him just like we did with Yellow and get on with our mission. Worst case… We’ll have to keep him as a prisoner.”

“What if he lies?” Green asked, skeptical of Red's choice. “Brown likes to stretch the truth. He has a way with words.”

“Well, then. I trust you, as his brother, to convince him to tell the real truth,” Red replied, stepping into the building. He wasn’t looking forward to this confrontation, but it was what needed to be done. He still couldn’t believe that Brown, of all people, had threatened the lives of everyone on the crew like that. With a bomb, too? Even though Red was hesitant to go through with a hearing, he was still very curious.

They all then marched down to O2, and then to the tank storage door, prepared to face anything. Who knew what laid behind the door.

“So, Brown’s in there?” Cyan asked, peeking over Red’s arm, “And… You left him there? Overnight?”

“Unfortunately,” Red sighed, “The outpost didn’t come with a prison. This is the best we could do.” He then turned the knob on the heavy metal door, and lo and behold, Brown was perfectly still, tied up in a chair, just as Blue and Cyan had left him the previous night.

The light shed onto Brown’s face, and his eye was still swollen. He twitched slightly, annoyed at the sudden appearance.

Red then got closer, “Tell us everything,” he ordered.

Brown stayed silent, his head hung down, not even moving one bit. He was alive, but he refused to talk.

Green stood at the back corner, afraid to even come forward. Him and Brown exchanged awkward glances.

Cyan then rushed forward, put her arm against the wall, and got dangerously close to Brown. “Look, I can either get my angry girlfriend to come in here and blind that nice eye of yours, or you can speak up,” she raged, the tone of her voice making it obvious that she wasn’t fooling around.

Brown lifted his head slowly, “I’ll talk, just please, don’t let Yellow in here…” He paused, “I can’t look at her face ever again, after everything I’ve done to her.”

Cyan stood up and huffed, “What do you mean? You were about to kill her.” 

“That’s enough, Cyan,” demanded Red, pulling her away, “Let him talk.”

“God, I’m so selfish,” Brown whispered, quivering his lips. He then took a breath before explaining, “I didn’t want to do it… Not at all. It’s just… One day, I got this email from this… This doctor. Dr. Lavender… He’s still a mystery to me. I don’t know his intentions or why he did it, or why he chose to blackmail me, but… He knows about us. He knows about all of us. Our personal lives, what we do on the ship, all of our secrets. Hell, I even disabled all the cameras here, and encrypted everything, just so he can’t watch us…”

Red gasped and widened his eyebrows. He scratched his beard with worry. “What kind of secrets, exactly?” He asked.

“Lots of things,” said Brown. “I… I don’t want to tell them. They could be harmful to some people, you know. Make them lose their jobs, and I don’t want that.” He then nodded his head at Cyan, giving her a signal that showed he knew all about her cheating.

 _Well, I guess he knows,_ Cyan said to herself.

Brown shook in his seat, his hands were trembling, and he could barely speak. He lowered his voice and stuttered, “Look, I… I care about you all, right? I never wanted to use a bomb. Not at all. But if I didn’t comply with that doctor’s demands, then… Then I would be killed… All of you would be killed, anyway… I didn’t try to flee from the explosion because, because, well… I didn’t want to have that guilt on my hands for the rest of my life. I couldn’t live with that. You guys are my family… I tricked Blue into thinking he was making a weapon we could use against a horde of parasites, if we ever needed to. I tricked Yellow into using it. I know, I know it’s wrong, I know I’m guilty, but… I did it because I had no choice. I did it because Dr. Lavender forced me to… I was… Conspiring against Mira. I was dumb, naive, selfish… Green really knocked some sense into me, but… It was too late. I shouldn’t have done it.”

“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” Pink came forward, kneeling down in front of the chair. “I trust you, Brown, but… How do we know this Dr. Lavender guy exists?”

“Look in my email,” Brown suggested, turning his head back at Red, “You have access to all the crew’s passwords, is that correct, Red?”

He nodded.

Brown smiled. “Then look in there. It’s all the proof you need.”

“Thank you, Brown,” Red beamed genuinely, “Hopefully we can forgive you like we did with Yellow.”

Cyan scoffed and crossed her arms, “I’m not forgiving him. Never.”

“Aren’t you close with Yellow?” Red grinned, “Talk about crewmate favoritism.”

“That’s right,” Pink looked up at her. She was still visibly upset. “Yellow was forced to keep a secret, Brown was forced to keep a secret, in turn, their treatment should be equal. We could’ve all been killed either way!”

“Also,” Pink added, pausing to stand by Brown’s side, “As much as I hate to say it, Brown is my friend. Even if he’s lying about all of this, I…” They paused nervously, “I would still hold a piece in my heart for him.”

Brown looked up, surprised to hear that from anybody. “Thank you,” he said sincerely. “You guys really don’t need to thank me, I… I would rather prefer if you didn’t. I deserve life in here,” he mumbled, looking at all the corners of the small room.

Red moved forward, “No, Brown, that’s not necessary. If you’re really telling the truth, we’ll get you out of here in no time, and solve that little… Dr. Lavender situation.” He looked around at everyone and gave the sign to leave. Before exiting the room, he turned around at Brown. He looked exhausted and hurt, and Red hated it. All he wanted was for everything to be peaceful.

He then closed the door and followed everyone back outside. Before turning the corner to Communications, Red told Cyan, “Can you go to the Specimen Room? I was meaning to go later, but I think Pink, Green, and I can check the emails on our own.”

Cyan nodded with compliance, “Of course. Do I need to send a message?”

“Just ask how far along research is going, and tell me about it all later. We’re kind of in a time crunch here, so make it quick,” Red requested, splitting up with Cyan to follow Pink and Green into Comms.

Cyan took the shorter way to the Specimen Room, through the Admin building. Once she was in the hallway, though, she could hear Yellow… Yelling? It wasn’t angry, it was excited yelling. “Blue’s in there, too…” She said to herself, “Strange…” Cyan slid her keycard, and was immediately struck with a beam of the brightest light, which was scattered all throughout the room. She squinted her eyes, “What the hell?”

The light dimmed down, and Cyan noticed Yellow and Blue more clearly. Even though her vision still had spots, she could see Yellow running around the table, examining the parasites closely through safety goggles. She was shaking and looked sleep deprived, but was also full of energy at the same time.

“Did it work? Did it work?” She excitedly sputtered. She was holding a pair of pliers with a parasite in between the prongs.

Blue was sitting down in a chair, holding a wrench and a flashlight. On the table, were multiple metal parts that Cyan couldn’t identify. It looked like they were conducting a lab experiment. He was silent, and looked very, very tired. Even through his goggles, Cyan could tell he had been awake all night.

Once Yellow’s vision came back, she noticed the parasite was still there, clearly alive. “Aww! DANG IT!” She kicked the back leg of the table, shaking the tubes of liquid and startling the aliens inside. She waved her fist in the air, “CURSE YOU, WAVELENGTHS!” She breathed, “Try the next one,” while pointing to Blue’s parts. 

Blue yawned, and screwed open the flashlight to put in a different part.

Yellow looked up from the table, surprised to see Cyan standing there. She stood up, dropped the parasite back in it’s liquid, and clasped her gloves, “Oh my god, it’s Cy! It looks like the fate of the universe has brought us together once again! Oh, Blue, she’ll LOVE this!” She then dashed over to the door, and hugged the very confused and awkward girl.

“Hi Yellow… Uh, what are you doing?” Cyan asked, pulling away from Yellow’s hug.

Yellow smiled at her with big, happy eyes, “Come over here, I’ll explain EVERYTHING!”

“You look… Tired,” Cyan said, looking at Yellow up and down. “When did you wake up?”

“I actually never went to sleep, but that’s irrelevant. Just come over here!” In a matter of seconds, she tugged Cyan over, put her in an extra chair, opened her laptop, and stole the flashlight from Blue’s hands.

“I… was using that…” He sighed.

Yellow took a deep, long breath. She cracked her knuckles, and at the speed of light explained, “Okay, so, you’re probably wondering what I’m doing here with Blue. Well, remember last night when I told you I wasn’t scared of the parasites anymore? Well, I meant it! These creatures are so cool! I could just gush about them all day! But, I can’t waste any time here. So, Red actually told me last night that I needed to work on a way to kill them, because apparently bullets don’t work anymore, so we can bring the infected back to life. We tried everything. Water, gas, all of the elements on the periodic table, even drugs! Well, none of those work, so I tried manipulating their emotions! Oh, you NEED to see this!”

Yellow stood and turned to the side of the table, focusing hard on one parasite. “You know how they react to human emotion? Well, Blue and I did everything. We put on a scared face, they get big! We tried to look intimidating, they got small and weak! We tried to look sad, they got noisy! We tried to look happy, they backed away and mirrored our movements! But watch until you see this… Blue, say something funny. Not something that you’ve said before, though.”

Flustered, Blue started to panic, “Uh… Uh… Uh, uh…”

“Come on, just say something! Give it your best shot!”

“Fuck, I don’t know! Uh… Um…”

“Screw this, I always have to do everything myself.” Yellow inhaled, and then let out the loudest forced laugh that Cyan or Blue had ever heard.

“Are… You okay?” Cyan asked. She turned her head, and suddenly, the parasites were all squiggling around, like party streamers in a flowing wind, or perhaps like curly french fries. She marveled, “Woah, they’re dancing…”

“See? It’s like a dance party!” Yellow beamed. After the parasites calmed down, she coughed, “Now, back to trying to find a way to kill them.” 

“Wait, that had nothing to do with research?” Cyan grumbled, frustrated that showing her dancing aliens was on top of Yellow’s priority list.

“Nope! I just thought it was cool,” clarified Yellow. “Moving on, Blue and I discovered something earlier that could actually work. Blue, take it away!”

“Oh,” Blue scratched his head. He never considered himself the best at scientific explanations. “Uh, well,” he scrambled to grab the flashlight and wrench, and held it up close to Cyan’s face. “Earlier, we found out that light can damage their… Molecular… Structure?” He gulped, looking up at Yellow anxiously.

Yellow had a wild expression on her face, familiar to Neon’s. “Go on…” she winced, “You’re right, their molecular structure…”

“And… And…” Blue stuttered, shaking the tools in his hand, “Well, we’re testing out different lights and uh, I switch them out. Every… So often… Because we need to find the correct light that can uh, kill… Them.”

Yellow shook her head. “I think she gets it,” she sneered, looking down at Cyan who was still watching Blue’s hands attentively. “Now, Blue, onto the next wave of length!” She declared heroically, not an ounce of tiredness in her voice.

Blue sighed again, and sluggishly took the flashlight apart once more.

Cyan placed a hand on Yellow’s arm, “May I stay here?” She asked curiously with a smile, “This looks like fun.”

Blue started shaking his head vigorously, trying to get her attention to tell her, _No, no, you don’t want to,_ but Yellow accepted before he got the chance. 

“Thanks, you’re the best!” Cyan slid her chair back, crossed her legs, and got prepared for the show.

Blue did a thumbs-up, indicating he was ready for the next test.

Yellow then picked up her pliers and handled the parasite from it’s tube, slowly moving it over the table and in front of the flashlight’s line of view. “Ready! Oh, and make sure to close your eyes! You don’t wanna get blinded!”

Blue clicked the light on, and suddenly, everything in the room was illuminated with blinding light. It wasn’t as bright as the previous time, but it was still enough to hurt the eyes. Blue then clicked it off, and lo and behold, the parasite was still clenched in the pliers, wiggling around.

Yellow groaned through her teeth, “Next one.” She turned her head over to Cyan and lifted her goggles, “If you didn’t know, this whole thing is trial and error. We’ve been at this for hours!”

Blue readied the next light, “I’m thinking maybe the UV ones might do something, but this is our last bet.” He clicked it on again, this time, the light was a bit dimmer. It lasted for a few seconds, until it stopped.

In between Yellow’s pliers was nothing. The parasite had been completely melted, and steaming red liquid was splattered all over the floor.

Yellow gasped. She breathed in over and over from excitement. “IT… WORKED!!!” She squealed, holding the tool above her head like a proud gladiator. She then bent over and tore her goggles off, throwing them against the floor, and leaped over to Cyan to give her a tight bear hug. “WE DID IT!”

Cyan burst out laughing, amused to see Yellow so excited. Blue, however, looked more relieved that it was over.

“But…” Yellow took a glance at the other parasites, who were still happily swimming, safe in their tanks. “There’s still one thing that must be done…” She walked back over to the table and slammed her hands down, eyeing the red aliens. “This is the part I’ve been waiting for. I’m gonna infect myself.”

The room got quiet. Cyan stopped celebrating, and Blue was now very much awake.

“Yellow, no,” Cyan refused, putting her fist down, “That’s a disaster waiting to happen. I don’t care if it’s for science, you’re _not_ gonna infect yourself.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Blue advised, “We already found out how to kill them with light, I’m sure we’re okay from now on.”

Yellow chuckled, moving along the sides of the table nonchalantly. “No. No, you’re wrong,” she countered, “Here’s something my dad would always tell me when I was younger; no experiment is complete without making sure it’s complete. We don’t know that light can cure the infected, we only know that it can kill a parasite outside of a body. There’s only one way we can make sure it can.”

“Then I’ll do it,” proposed Cyan, “Infect _me_. I can’t just have you go through that, Yellow!”

Yellow shook her head. “Cyan. I’m okay. I can do this,” she assured with a calm tone.

“No! You can’t just… You can’t do this!”

Yellow refused, “I don’t care… I’ll do anything if it means saving Silver, Gold, and my dad. Even if it means getting infected. I’m not scared.”

Cyan breathed cautiously, “Okay then, but what if this goes wrong? What if the light doesn’t cure you, what if it leaves you blinded or hurt, what if this just doesn’t work?”

“Act now, worry later!” Yellow grinned. She was clearly just avoiding the questions. “Just trust me.”

“Alright, I… I trust you,” sighed Cyan, secretly hoping everything goes okay. She wasn’t a religious person, but she was still praying for a miracle to happen. She walked away from Blue and back down in her chair, but it was hard to stay still.

“Oh, and, give me this after,” requested Yellow, opening up a file cabinet with vials of parasidium, and tossing it into Cyan’s hands.

Yellow then lifted her left sleeve up to her shoulder. With her right hand, she grabbed onto her pliers and carefully brought a parasite out of it’s tube. She slowly but steadily stepped away from Blue, stopping at the wall. She spun around and ordered, “When I say go, shine the light. Or, if I’m about to die. Or, just, if I’m doing something really concerning, got it?”

Blue nodded and got the flashlight ready, still not 100% hopeful this was even going to work.

Yellow inhaled, slowly bringing the parasite closer to her arm. It hissed and clicked as it got closer, growing more violent as each second passed. She had a lot of things on her mind, as any normal person would before putting a parasitic alien into their body. Yellow thought about her dad, and what he would say. He’s sacrificed a lot for science before, right? She thought about Cyan, and how this must be the most terrifying thing she’s ever had to witness. She thought about White, and what must’ve gone through his mind before getting infected. And then she finally thought about the parasite right in front of her.

Yellow was surprised to see herself this brave for once. Even while holding the deadly parasite, she wasn’t afraid. Not one bit.

 _Hey… I’ve come pretty far, haven’t I?_ She told herself. She quickly realized that the roadblock keeping her from discovery didn’t exist anymore, and it felt relieving.

It was all quiet, until the parasite took a huge bite out of her arm. She dropped the pliers and gasped.

“Yellow!” Cyan shouted, moving out of her chair and hesitating to move forward. Yellow moved away, reaching out a hand to stop her.

“No, stay back! I promise, it’s okay!” Yellow reassured, letting the parasite crunch and stab through her skin.

Blue and Cyan looked away in abhorrence.

“That’s… Disgusting…” Blue cringed, still shaking the flashlight in his hands.

The parasite slowly seeped through, shape shifting around until Yellow couldn’t control her own movements. Her eyes started to glow red and her cries became deeper, which gave Blue the signal to use the light.

Cyan started to get nervous, to the point where she couldn’t handle it anymore. “Turn it on, you idiot!” She demanded, shaking on Blue’s shoulder. Watching all of this transpire felt like a nightmare.

The room glowed for a few seconds, before dimming back down again. Cyan covered her eyes for dear life, mortified at what might’ve been in front of her. She didn’t dare to move her hand.

Yellow collapsed to the floor, fuming with pain. The open wound from where the parasite had entered started to steam up, as she felt in control of her mind again. Her eyes slowly faded into the usual golden color, and she could feel her nerves coming back.

Cyan opened her eyes cautiously, relieved to see that there wasn’t a monster in front of her. She slid across the room, kneeling down to where Yellow was, and wrapped her arms around her, saying something muffled like, “Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay,” but Yellow couldn’t really hear it.

Blue set down his tools and jogged to where Yellow fell, taking a close look at her and the bruise on her arm. “Is she… Okay?”

“The vial…” Yellow groaned, slowly lifting her hand up to Cyan’s. She took it from her, quickly sipping it until it was empty. A few seconds passed, but she was still cold and quiet.

Cyan tried shaking her awake, “Yellow, please say something…”

All of a sudden, Yellow blinked her eyes open, feeling a tremendous surge of energy and relief. She gasped, “That… Was… AMAZING!” She jumped up from Cyan’s arms and cheered across the room, “Did you see that?! The parasite totally evaporated! That was so cool!” She gave Blue an energetic high-five, and sat back down to record everything on her laptop. She clicked on the keys and mumbled, “Light… works against… Infected… Parasidium… Heals wounds…”

Cyan and Blue glared at each other, they were both more than glad that the experiment worked, and happy to see Yellow so alive, but they were still a bit confused. She was just infected, and then drank a vial of parasidium and brushed it off like nothing happened? It was off-putting.

“Are you sure you don’t need to lay down or take a break in Medbay?” Cyan asked, kneeling down next to her chair, “It looked like the parasite took a toll on you…”

Yellow lifted her sleeve up again and showed where the parasite had bitten her. It was completely healed, not even a scar or bruise was left behind. “I’m more than fine!” She assured gleefully, “In fact, I think parasidium is naturally filled with energy. I feel great!”

“Well in that case, may I have some?” Blue asked, desperate to get his hands on anything that could keep him awake.

Yellow hesitated, “Well, I don’t know… You’re not injured, and we still don’t know a lot about it, and I wouldn’t want anything to go wrong…”

“Uh, you _just_ risked your life for something that could’ve gone wrong. I think Blue has a right to try some!” Cyan laughed, grabbing a vial from the cabinet and bringing it to Blue.

“Here goes,” he said, drinking the red liquid in one gulp. Immediately, his face became pale, and he started coughing. He dashed over to the trash can, “That tastes awful!” He gagged, rubbing on his tongue to get the taste off.

“I don’t know, it tasted fine in my opinion,” Yellow laughed, still typing away on the laptop. “Are you less tired now?”

Blue stood up and stretched, “Actually, yeah, sort of…”

“Well then, mission accomplished!”

——

“Take a seat, Captain!” Offered Pink, taking Red’s crutches and pointing to the big office chair at the Communications desk.

“Thank you.” Red plopped himself down, sliding in front of the computer screens. He pulled out his administrator keycard and slid it through one of the scanners, giving him access to all of the crewmate’s accounts. He clicked on Brown’s and cracked his knuckles. “Let’s see what we have here…” He mumbled, immediately going to the email inbox.

Pink and Green hovered over Red awkwardly, both observing the computer carefully.

“Wait, so, can you see what I do on there…?” Green shuttered.

Red grinned, “Yeah, I have everyone’s accounts. I don’t check them, though.”

“Oh, okay, thanks.”

Red scrolled down to the emails from ‘Dr. Lavender’. He opened it apprehensively, and was immediately struck with fear. “Jeez… It wasn’t Brown’s fault after all…” He didn’t know if he felt relieved or afraid.

“Lemme see!” Exclaimed Pink, bending over the table and pushing Red out of the way. They took off their glasses and read the text more thoroughly, now understanding Brown’s perspective, and that it was blackmail after all. Threats upon threats were stored in that inbox, all commanding Brown to take out the outpost or else there would be consequences, like the takedown of Mira, arrest, or even ship sabotage. Red and Pink read through all of them, about thirteen, but still had no idea who this doctor was or what his intentions were.

“They… They know about us?” Pink anxiously asked, biting through their glove.

“I’m afraid so,” Red answered, running through his hair, “I just have no idea what to do.”

All of a sudden, three other crewmates stomped through the door, alerting Red. He turned around, and saw Blue, Cyan, and Yellow all laughing, presumably waiting for orders of some kind. Red sighed, spinning around to face them. “What are you guys here for?”

Yellow came forward, “Captain, I have great news! We found a way to expel a parasite from an infected body! I would love to show you all my research, if that’s okay,” she informed passionately.

“I’ll be there in a second, I just have to read through the rest of these,” he said, turning back around.

The three crewmates in the back stood awkwardly, waiting for Red to finish up. They kept quiet, as to not disturb him. Cyan whispered in Yellow’s ear, “Hey, you should give me your computer password.”

“What? Why? Yellow blurted, crossing her arms, “Is it because I have more games than you? Not happening.”

“I’ll give you mine if you give me yours.”

“No. I made my password when I was twelve and it just stuck. It’s embarrassing. Not telling you.”

“Please?”

“No.”

“I’ll give you my lunch rations tomorrow.”

“Nope.”

“For the next three days.”

Yellow trembled, “Okay, okay, just don’t tell anyone,” she got closer to Cyan’s ear, “It’s… lunalovegoodsgirlfriend81215420.”

Cyan shuffled back and burst out laughing, “Are you serious? I never knew you were a Harry Potter fan!”

“Shut up! I was twelve! And it’s a really secure password…”

“I laughed when I first saw it, too,” Red grinned, overhearing their entire conversation.

Yellow fumed, “What? You know it? Then what’s hers?”

“Okay, okay, I’ll tell you,” Cyan hushed next to Yellow’s ear, “Mine’s !buttholedestroyer4736251…”

Yellow turned away and snorted, “Well, at least I’m not the only one with a bad password.”

“No, mine’s better than yours,” Cyan giggled, a growing smirk on her face.

“Alright, Pink,” Red stretched, taking his crutches from the obedient Pink’s arms. He moved forward to the three in the back. “I’m as ready as you are,” he told Yellow.

“Okay, follow us.”

Once all of them were out of the building and back in the Specimen Room, Yellow sat herself down at the table and opened up her laptop, which stored all her notes. She offered Red a seat, and then ushered Blue to come over, “Over here, Blue! Show Red the light! We’re not done yet!”

“Yes, Yellow…” Blue sighed, rummaging through all the parts that he had just put away.

Yellow, back in her science mood again, straightened up her posture and breathed in. “So, we found out that a certain wavelength of UV rays can actually dissolve the parasites completely! I even infected myself, and I was cured! Right, Blue?”

Blue looked up from his phone and scrambled to show Red, “Yeah, we went through a lot, but this the one.”

Red observed carefully and leaned back, “Hm, do you have more of these lights?”

“Oh, we have PLENTY!” Exclaimed Yellow, “Have you seen the storage room? Practically everything in there is lights. Black lights, UV lights, you name it.”

“Good. I was hoping we could put these on our guns, and even set up flood lights around the outpost to keep us safe from the attack.”

Yellow stopped, and a washed-over expression fell onto her face, “Uh, what? Attack?”

Red raised his voice, “Did you forget? That wave of parasites out there, they’re coming _here_. We need to install these lights, and fast, or else… We’ll have to fight again.”

Silence rang around the room. Red’s news was always pretty shocking, but not this shocking. There wasn’t much time left until the next attack, and everyone’s lives now counted on Blue.

“Here, this is what I was thinking…” said Red, grabbing a notepad and a pen from his pocket. He started drawing a concept of his idea and showed it to Blue. It was a messy drawing, but it was able to be recognized. There would be a barrier set up around the outpost, with a secure gate so nothing would be able to get in. There would be fixtures of lights spread across the top of it, repelling any parasite that might come by. Blue liked the idea.

“You’re a genius, Captain,” flattered Blue as he took the paper and viewed it closely, “I can make them. We have a ton of wires and materials, and we can modify the lights so that they have the UV rays. Perhaps we can even install electric wires,” he vowed.

“Do we have enough metal?”

Blue nodded, “Remember all of those crates that held outpost materials? That metal can be repurposed. We also have loads of wires and scrap metal.”

“How fast can you do it?” Red asked, anxiously tapping the pen against the table.

“I’m not sure, but we’ll work our hardest.”

“Alright, I would like all of you to follow orders from Blue right now,” Red commanded, pointing to everyone around him. He sighed and slouched down into his chair, “Sorry that I’m so bossy right now, it’s just… I’m nervous. We all are, but if we can make these lights, we’ll all be safe.”

Blue nodded his head. “Yes, Captain.” He then turned around to the door and ordered, “Okay, let’s move!”

Yellow was the last one to stand up. Before she could head out, Red called out for her.

“Yellow,” he spoke, “I just wanted to know if you were doing alright, you know, with your dad and everything.”

She paused and took a step forward, “Yeah, I’m fine,” she assured in a frustrated tone. She turned back around and marched out the door, “I’m just doing what would make him proud.” She gave Red a smile, and then left.


	19. Restore

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, violence/use of weapons/gross stuff warning, read at your own risk.

—— 1:24 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

“Come on, people, we don’t have all day!”

Blue, with his blueprint in hand and several clods of dust smeared on his cheeks, had turned the electrical room into a factory. There was a cacophony of clashing noises. Hammers, drills, sparks, but Blue was immune. He was only focusing on one goal; to get the barrier made.

Blue strolled across the hall, making sure everyone was doing their job. There was Pink in the back, who had finally learned how to screw in a lightbulb, Cyan and Green working on the wiring for the fence, and Yellow resting against the wall with scraps scattered all around her, working on the electrical parts. She had no idea what most of them did, but with a little help from Blue, she was able to produce a steady rhythm of UV lights. Orange, Black, and even Brown (although it was pretty awkward), had joined in as well, moving around to help different people. Red was seated in a chair in the corner, watching the outside closely through the window with his tablet in-hand. He was using the same software Neon had to detect any “seismic activity” that would be a warning sign for any horde of parasites coming their way. He was more anxious than he had ever been.

The last group of people then entered through the door. Purple, Peach, and Lime.

“I heard a ruckus going on from Medbay,” Peach giggled, “Is there any way we can help?”

Blue spun around and greeted them, showing the blueprint of the fence and lights. He explained everything, about how the lights can dissolve and repel the parasites, and how the fence would be able to protect them. “I would like you to work with Pink,” he told Purple, “And you two to work on putting lights on the guns,” he ordered, pointing to Peach and Lime. “Oh, and don’t be afraid to ask for help. I know engineering is not everyone’s specialty.”

They all nodded, and immediately got to work.

As everyone chatted and worked together harmoniously, Red stayed quiet in his chair, still keeping a close watch on his tablet. Lots of time slowly passed, still nothing. Until…

_ALERT: SEISMIC ACTIVITY STARTING, 18 MILES AWAY._

The alert blinked across the screen, making itself very clear to Red. _Great,_ he thought, _Now the show really begins._

He took some time to scan across the room, observing everyone carefully, and then nodded. He stood up, hand on his crutches, “Everyone, I would like to say something before we start setting up the barriers outside, and just let you guys know what’s going to happen.”

The room completely stopped. The noises quieted down, and everyone was focused on Red.

He breathed in, “I know this is scary, but, the parasites are coming our way… Right now. We have to set up the barriers, or else… Well, you get the point.”

Blue nodded and stepped closer to him, “I think we’re almost ready, Captain.”

“Good,” said Red, “I want two teams out there. One team will set up the barrier at the base, and the second team will defend the first against the parasites, with the help of the new weapons.”

“Question…” Black spoke, scratching their head, “So, about the barrier. Do you think it will be able to keep us safe for the rest of the mission?”

“Yes,” Red replied, “I’m hoping once this wave is over, we can add some upgrades. But until then, we have to defend ourselves.”

He continued, “I’ve decided that the group staying at base will be Blue, Pink, Brown, Yellow, Orange, and Black. Cyan, Peach, Lime, Green, and Purple will be out in the field. I have to stay here, watching the first group, because my legs haven’t fully healed yet.” He lifted his chin at Cyan, who was at the back of the room. “That means you, Cyan, have to lead.”

She widened her eyebrows in panic, “What? No, no, I can’t!”

“Yes, you can,” Red reassured, moving forward to her, “You’re perhaps one of the bravest people I know.”

“Are you sure…?” Cyan stuttered, growing more nervous, “I mean… I… I’ve never really fought before… And I’m not a good leader…”

“You’ll get the hang of it,” Red smirked, “You’re the only person I could really trust with commanding the group.”

Cyan smiled genuinely, suddenly becoming struck with inspiration. It was a rare moment of bravery, and the first time she’d felt valid to be at Red’s side. _Maybe being co-captain isn’t all that bad,_ she realized, _Maybe I should keep doing this._

“Come on, order your crew to do something!” Red cheered, spinning Cyan around.

“What?” She noticed everyone starting to stand up and grab helmets, the five other teammates congregating around her. _What do I do…_

They all waited around, before she finally spoke up. “I want everyone to get hydrated. Make sure you’re ready to run, defend, and fight… Get a gun, and wait for my command,” she gulped.

They all nodded, “Yes, co-captain,” before marching out the door.

Red patted her shoulder, “There ya go! Wasn’t that fun?”

“Yeah,” she smiled, “I could get used to it.”

—— 2:06 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

“Is everyone ready?” Cyan asked, turning around at the door to face her team.

Everyone looked up and nodded, guns strapped over their shoulders. Blue had taught them, with the little time they had left, to properly use these weapons. The light attached to the top of the barrel had have it’s battery replaced every so often, so there would be ammo and battery stations behind the barrier during the fight. Some were reluctant to handle a heavy and dangerous firearm, but Blue shrugged it off, saying, “It’s easy. All you gotta do is shoot and not be an idiot.”

Cyan set out with her team while the other started work on the barrier. She led them past the outpost buildings and over the hill, and looked down across the horizon, surveying for any parasites. She felt a rumbling in her feet, and squinted carefully across the plain of ice and snow. In the distance, what looked like a wave of red coming towards them. The starlight was barely enough to spot it.

She turned around and yelled at Blue, “I see them! They’re coming!”

Blue broke from the construction and sprinted forward, looking down from the hill as well. He put a hand on her shoulder, “Once they’re close, use the lights. If you see any infected crewmates out there, don’t shoot. Stun them, and let Peach bring them to Medbay.”

Peach reached into her backpack, showing Cyan the vials of parasidium she had brought. “Lime and I will be medics on the field, healing anyone who gets hurt, and recovering Silver, Gold, and Neon. We should be unstoppable,” she insisted, a confident twinkle in her eye.

Cyan slowly turned her head back to the wave, which would arrive any minute now. “Okay…” She breathed in, trying to wash away any anxiety, “Let’s do this. Everyone, ready your guns.”

The teammates then made sure they were full on ammunition and batteries. But even though they had all of this great gear and weapons, no one was ready. This was only the second week on Polus, and only the second month in space. In that time, they had to eject an infected crewmate onboard, stop a bomb threat, and wage full war on a species of parasitic aliens. Cyan knew they had all been through a lot, and that’s why she could trust them to fight. She trusted them all with her life, and that made her considerably less nervous. In fact, she was excited for this battle.

Cyan took a few steps forward, reaching out an arm across her team. “When I say move, I want you all to advance, and start stunning them with your lights. Whatever you do, don’t let them get to the barrier, don’t let your guard down, and… Stay safe.”

“Yes, co-captain,” they all said, her helmet receiver ringing with voices.

Cyan smiled, “Just call me Cyan, you idiots.”

“Yes, Cyan.”

The wave approached closer and closer by each passing second. The parasites were out for revenge, but Cyan wouldn’t ever let them win. She was confident that her crew would succeed, and she could taste the victory already.

The parasites were about twenty meters away, raging forward, until Cyan finally let out the signal to advance.

“Move!” She cried with every ounce of bravery she had.

The other four ran forward, stunning the aliens with their lights immediately. Cyan stayed farther back, watching them closely. She was about to head into battle, when she heard footsteps running behind her, and a familiar, angelic voice ringing in her receiver.

“Cyan!”

Someone tugged on her arm. No surprise, it was that girl in the sunflower-colored spacesuit. Yellow. With a gun strap slinged across her shoulder, she was clearly ready to join the fight.

“I’m coming with you.”

Cyan exhaled, “No, Yellow, please. Not this time.”

“I want to fight.”

“It’s dangerous, and you need to work on the barrier.”

“Who cares what team Red assigns me in, I’m gonna fight by your side!”

“Yellow… Please,” Cyan lowered her head, “I need you to stay here. I can’t let you get hurt.”

Yellow placed her hands on Cyan’s shoulders, “Remember that promise we made?”

Cyan looked back up. “What?”

“Back on the ship, when you helped me with that plan,” Yellow reminisced, smiling at her past memories. She couldn’t help it. “You said we would stick together. I’ve never forgotten about it.”

Cyan looked around, saying nothing. She glanced behind her, watching the fighting rage on, and then turned back at Yellow. She gulped, “Listen to me. This is a life or death battle, and I can’t just let you risk your life like this. It’s my duty to lead, not yours… I’m sorry.”

Yellow refused and stood her ground, “If this is a life or death battle, I want to help you fight! If I die, at least I’ll be dead by your side!”

Cyan stepped back, at a loss for words. She tried coming up with something, but she knew that nothing would convince that stubborn girl to stay. She smiled, _I guess I should’ve known. Yellow’s always like this._

“Alright then,” Cyan let out her hand, squeezing Yellow’s arm tight, “If you’re so eager, then follow me.”

Yellow beamed with delight, and ran after Cyan, getting her weapon ready. She was more than satisfied to be fighting alongside her, even if it meant there was a chance to get eaten alive. It was really a dream come true.

The parasites, however, did not stop. They were like an endless swarm of wasps working together in one group like a hivemind. Even though the UV lights did work extremely well against them, leaving hundreds in steaming red puddles, there were still thousands more attacking in waves, stringing across the land and skies.

And surprisingly, even though he was the smallest among the whole team, Green was the most destructive. He kept a grin as he stunned most of the tall parasites, stomping them against the purple soil. In fact, he was in front of everybody, even leading Cyan at times.

Purple, who was starting to become tired, fell back and ran up the hill, trying to catch a breath. She figured she would have to fill up on oxygen soon. She then surveyed the land, and was intrigued to find something different, strolling behind the first wave of monsters. A humanoid… With a space suit on? She looked more closely, trying to make out a color. It was clear now, the infected crewmate leading the wave was Silver.

Purple sputtered her breaths, running back down the hill to catch up with Cyan. She pulled her back, “Silver’s behind there, I saw her!”

Cyan stopped shooting and tried to see past the rampage. She looked back at the anxious Purple, “Tell Peach. Warn her about it, and she’ll cure Silver in no-time.”

Purple nodded, and bolted across the field again, weaving around puddles of steam.

——

Watching Blue lead all the construction outside, Red was bouncing his leg up and down in the chair. He was antsy, and desperately wanted to contribute in the battle in some way, but couldn’t. He stared at his crutches resting on the wall and sighed. Lime advised him not to put stress on his new legs for at least another week, but Red didn’t have time for that. He was the captain, and he needed to help his crew. Alas, he spent the battle giving commands from the chair, feeling as alone as a child in time-out. It was humiliating.

Orange walked past him, carrying more sheets of metal in his arms.

“Did you cover up the airways?” Red asked, resting his chin in his hand.

“Yes,” Orange nodded, “If there was a breach, the parasites would have nowhere to go,” he gave his captain a smile, which slightly cheered him up.

“Good work,” Red complimented, going back to staring outside. _This is ridiculous,_ he thought to himself, _I’m going out there and I’m gonna help._

Red stood up slowly, steadily placing one hand on the windowsill, and took one step out of the chair. It hurt, but soon, his nerves were awake. His legs felt normal, and he was full of energy again. Red assumed the parasidium had done its job with healing, and he was soon back on his feet, strolling across the outpost behind the barrier’s construction.

People gave him confused stares as he walked by. Pink was jogging towards the Office, headed towards the water dispenser, until they met with Red in the corridor of buildings. They both stopped in their tracks. 

“Captain!” Pink yelped, looking at Red up and down. “Your crutches…”

“Don’t need them anymore,” Red smirked, “Now, where’s Blue? I gotta help him.”

Pink spun around, leading him to the southernmost part of the outpost; the area entering the outside field. Red scanned his horizon. It looked like some fence had been set up, attaching to the neighboring cliffs. Blue had brought out a welding machine, and was helping Orange and Black attach a sheet of fence. Brown and Pink were working on the lights.

Red tapped Blue on the shoulder, “Hey.”

Blue spun around, looking up from his blueprint. “Oh, Hey Red… Wait, where are your crutches?”

“Don’t worry ‘bout it,” Red shrugged, “Where did you get that welder?”

Blue turned around, and then spun his head back at him. “Mira gave us one. It’s actually for ship repairs, but it’s perfect for a situation like this.”

“Nice, nice, you’re a crafty guy,” Red looked around, but felt like someone was missing. “Where’s Yellow?”

“She should be…” Blue paused, counting everyone around him, “Well… She should be attaching the lights with Brown…”

“I knew she would join the other team,” Red laughed.

Suddenly, two people from the other team came running down the hill. Red recognized them as Peach and Silver.

“What happened?” He asked, “Did you cure her?”

Peach panted, catching her breath, “Not yet, we were able to stun her and kill the parasite inside. Right now, she needs to take a dose of parasidium and recover.”

Silver looked up, still wincing from the pain in her side, “Hey, kid…” She mumbled.

Red gasped, but before he could say anything, the two of them dashed off to Medbay. He followed after them.

——

“Well, this is fun, isn’t it?” Yellow roared over the sounds of firing and splatting. She stomped on a few smaller parasites, enjoying the moments while they lasted.

Cyan kept shining her flashlight, swatting away any that would come close to her. “Let’s focus, Yellow. Remember what I said, I don’t want you to…” She paused, looking over her shoulder where Yellow was. She screamed, “LOOK OUT!”

“What?”

Cyan leaped forward, illuminating the colossal parasite behind Yellow. It was the biggest one she had ever seen, and it had to be at least three Blue’s tall, which was extremely tall.

Yellow spun around, backing away from the squeaking creature. It shrunk and shrunk, until all that was left was a pile of red slime. She shockingly gasped, and started huffing from relief and excitement. She went up to Cyan and cheered, “You saved me! Again! When this mission’s over, marry me, baby!”

Cyan shrugged it off and chuckled, “Hey, if you don’t look out, there won’t even be a wedding to attend, because… You’ll be in a coffin.”

“Oh, sorry… I was getting carried away, okay?” Yellow laughed, slapping the back of her helmet.

In the distance, Cyan noticed Lime sprinting towards them, and from the looks of it, it was urgent. Lime slid across the ground and stopped, “I saw Gold! He… He’s fast! He passed me, without even trying to attack and I…”

“Lime, calm down,” Cyan assured, saying what Red would usually say when someone was panicking. “Tell me what’s-“

“He’s getting to the barrier!”

Shocked, Cyan widened her eyebrows and felt a sweat dripping down from her forehead, but quickly got herself together. “I want you to go after him. Make sure he doesn’t harm anyone, alright?”

Lime nodded, and darted off towards the outpost.

——

“How long was I out?” Silver groggily asked, taking a sip of water and placing it on her bedside table. The parasidium had relieved most of her aches, and she already felt fully healed.

“The scouting mission was yesterday afternoon,” informed Red, crossing his arms and spacing off, “So, about a day.”

“Gosh…” Silver exhaled, “I don’t remember anything. I felt so… Trapped. Like I couldn’t control myself. Even when I saw you, Peach, it was like I didn’t know you. It was so strange, being infected.”

Peach brushed Silver’s black hair out of her face, which was tangled and matted, unlike her usual tight bun. Peach smiled, “Well, you’re here now, and you’re safe.”

Silver stared out the window across from her bed, watching the construction and sudden flashes of light. “Can I fight?”

“What?” Said Peach, who was standing up, getting ready to head back out. “No, you need to stay here and recover, I’m sorry…”

Silver moved her head back down into the pillow. “Oh. Well, if you need any backup, I’m here.”

Peach sighed, sitting back down to feel Silver’s temperature, “Well, how do you feel? Maybe we can have you work on the barrier.”

“I feel fine,” Silver insisted, “That red stuff I drank worked wonders.”

“See?” Red sassed, “It really does! I had both of my legs eaten yesterday, and now I don’t even need crutches!”

Out of the blue, Peach stood up, and took small steps around the windows and towards the bathroom. She shushed everyone, “I hear something…”

The tile floor rumbled, and she heard a clicking noise grow louder and louder. She realized what it was, and she immediately pulled out her gun. There was a parasite somewhere in the building.

Peach turned her light on and slowly surveyed into the bathroom. In a flash, something jumped up from behind the last stall, leaping forward. She stumbled back, dropping her gun and landing on her spine. She looked, up, horrified, realizing the creature in front of her was no other than Gold.

It came closer, hissing and crying as it closed in. She kept crawling back, yelling for someone in Medbay to help.

“ _Wait!_ ” Gold growled deeply, trying to fight the parasite’s instincts. “ _I don’t want to hurt you… Peach…”_

Silver dove across the hallway and grabbed Peach’s gun, shining light onto the infected Gold. He screeched and tripped backwards in pain, clawing at his eyes.

“Silver!” Peach looked up, relieved she was up to help. “Grab me a vial!”

“On it!” Silver ran to the countertop, and circled back to Peach, handing her the small glass tube.

“Thank you,” Peach then got on her feet, inching closer to Gold, careful to not alarm or scare him. She hated seeing him in pain, and it was sad to watch him so hurt.

“Ouch…” He groaned, rubbing on his exposed arms and legs, which wouldn’t stop steaming.

Peach came closer, “I know it hurts Gold, but, please drink this,” she took off his helmet and put it aside, and then placed the small glass of red liquid in his hand, “It’ll relieve the pain.”

“Are you sure…?” Gold then painfully tilted his neck back, ingesting the parasidium. He groaned again, “It hurts…”

“Silver, help me take him to the bed,” Peach ordered, picking up one of his arms from the floor and lifting his body up from the ground. Gold could barely walk, as sharp pains fired up his legs whenever he took a step. It was excruciating for him, but once he was finally at one of the beds, he flopped down and took a deep breath, trying to stay warm.

“What happened over there?” Red asked, as he was standing around in Medbay the entire time. “Is everything alright?”

“It’s all okay,” Peach blushed, “Gold’s gonna be alright.”

Gold lifted his head. “Thank you,” he mumbled to Peach, before dozing off on the soft mattress.

Silver patted Peach on the back, “We saved another,” she chuckled, grinning at her crewmate. 

Peach beamed, the red on her cheeks making it clear she was flattered. She would do anything if it meant saving Gold.

Across the hall, the door slid open. Lime came rushing in, her gun in hand. She stomped over to them, “I saw… I saw Gold go through a tunnel outside…” She gasped, looking around through all of the rooms, “Watch out for him, guys!” She then locked eyes with Gold, who was asleep like a baby, peacefully in his bed. 

“Huh?” Lime marveled, “But… But he…”

“We’ve got it under control, Lime,” Red reassured, softly putting a hand on her shoulder, “Peach healed him already. That means the only one left out there is…”

Silver looked up, pausing from her train of thought, “Neon.”

——

Purple, standing tall atop the hill, was commanded by Cyan to survey the land while the rest of them fought on the front line, keeping watch for anything concerning and informing about incoming waves. She panned her head around, trying to spot any other infected crewmates out in the fields, until something caught her eye. That bright yellowish-green suit could be spotted from miles away, Neon. She trudged down the hill again, this time, heading towards Yellow.

“Yellow!” Purple hollered, “Neon’s behind that wave, to your left!”

Peach and Lime then joined the fight again, running towards where Purple saw Neon.

“He’s this way!” Lime yelled, leading Yellow through the sea of red beasts. She spun her light around, forming a clear circle around her. Parasite goo splattered across her helmet, but she wiped it away, determined to find and cure the last infected crewmate out there.

Yellow sprinted forward, ignoring Lime’s calls to stay back. _This is it,_ she thought. _Where are you, Dad?_

“Get out of the way, you idiots!” Yellow screamed at the aliens as she waved the light on her gun around, shooting at the big ones, pulverizing the never-ending walls until they were flattened to the ground. Steam geysered into the air, making it hard to see anything. Yellow wafted the fumes out of the way, and eventually met the last infected crewmate face-to-face. Neon.

She wished she could’ve said it was her dad, but it really wasn’t. It was a monster. No different from White, and no different from any other parasite. This time, she wasn’t afraid. She knew what she had to do. Even if it was painful to stare at his red, lifeless, devoid eyes, she couldn’t sit back and cry like a coward.

Yellow ignored the tear rolling down her cheek and laughed, lowering her gun. “I’m so sorry, Dad, I know what you’re going through… But you’ll understand once this is all over.” She raised her light, clicked it on, and closed her eyes.

A few seconds passed, and Yellow forgot where she was completely. She heard someone yelling something behind her, but she didn’t care. She opened her eyes, zoning back to reality, and lowered her gun again.

Neon was clutching his stomach and kneeling over on the ground. He slowly tilted his head up. His eyes returned to normal, indicating his body had separated from the parasite.

Yellow dropped her weapon and came forward, sliding against the icy soil and landing in a hug.

“Yellow…” Neon smiled with relief, happy to be reunited with his daughter. “What’s happening?” He asked, still aching with pain.

Yellow pulled back, “We’re gonna get you to Medbay,” she declared, standing up and pulling on his arm, “We’re gonna end this war.”

“Yellow… I…”

“Come on, let’s go, there’s no time to talk!” Yellow then squeezed on his hand and led him through the geysers of parasite steam, eventually regrouping with her team.

Cyan paused from her fighting, kicked strings of parasites off of her boot, and marched forward. “Neon’s back!” She sang happily, giving him a smile.

“Yellow, I can take him. You can keep fighting,” Peach volunteered.

“Is that you… Peach?” Neon heaved, still trying to take in his surroundings.

“Yeah, it is!” She giggled, “Come on, nerd. We’re gonna get you healed.”

——

The barrier back at the outpost was almost done, thanks to Blue’s great leadership and craftsmanship skills. He went around the entire fence, making sure it was sturdy. He heard footsteps to his left, and was delighted to see Brown.

Brown came to Blue’s side, setting a hand on his shoulder, “We’re done with the barrier, all that’s left is to set up the gates. They’re starting it now.”

The lights, which were all placed apart evenly on top of the eight-foot tall fence, were all connected with one thick and secure wire running across it. The gate, however, would require more effort, as it was more mechanical than the barrier itself.

“Thank you, Brown,” Blue grinned, “I couldn’t ask for a better friend.”

“No problem, it’s just…” Brown took a deep, long sigh, lowering his voice so no one nearby could hear him. “I know how you must feel… After that bomb situation. And I… I didn’t really expect you to forgive me.”

Blue raised an eyebrow, “Of course I forgave you. It wasn’t your fault. Besides, I had to help stop it from happening!” He laughed, poking at Brown with his elbow. “It’s all in the past. We’re all teammates here.”

“Oh, okay,” Brown sighed, his heart aching with anxiety. “Well… What I did was terrible. I built trust with you, and I used it for my own gain. I was so selfish.”

“It’s okay,” Blue consoled, patting Brown on the back, “I forgive you. We all do.”

Brown turned away, “No, but… I’ve been thinking a lot about my friendships recently, and which crew members I really trust. Especially with this fight going on, I mean, we could all die. I just… I guess I just wanted to say…”

“Hm?”

Brown then stopped himself, turning away to hide his obvious smile. “Nevermind. Now’s not the right time.”

“What do you mean?”

“I gotta start work on the gate,” Brown yelled, jogging backwards towards the rest of his team. “I’ll tell you later!”

“Oh, okay then…” Blue replied, _What does he mean?_

——

As the fighting with the parasites raged on and on, they all grew stronger, taller, and more powerful. The lights now required more energy to kill them, but the parasites were still experts at adapting to war. This was only the last wave, and yet it felt longer than any other.

Green swatted his light around, evaporating any and all parasites that came near him. He stepped forward, but suddenly, his light sputtered off.

“Dang it,” he groaned, he would have to get a new battery back at the outpost.

Cyan came running towards him, “Your battery’s dead, too?”

“Yeah,” said Green.

“What? Mine is too!” Yellow screamed over the top of them from afar.

“Well, we can’t just leave the fight! They’ll get to the outpost!” Green yelled, backing away from the rampage.

Cyan had no time to think, she grabbed the two’s hands and made a run for it back to the barrier. She stopped next to an open box next to a wall where the extra batteries should’ve been, but the box was empty. She turned around and looked at the back of Blue’s head, “Where’s all the batteries?”

He didn’t respond, he kept looking at the fight going on in the hills.

“What are you looking at?” Asked Cyan, turning her head around. She screamed as she saw Lime and Purple treading down the snowy hill, the last wave of parasites close behind them. It was more parasites than she had ever seen, and they were all raging towards the gate.

Blue turned around towards the small ladder on the Admin building’s wall and started climbing. “Shit, there’s no time!” He screeched, “Everyone! Get on the roof!”

Everyone working on the gate crowded near the small ladder and climbed up one by one. Purple barely had enough time to get on after Lime. “Help! Lift me up!” She yelped, grabbing onto Blue and Cyan’s hands for dear life. She used the last of her energy to climb onto the roof, and exhaled with relief that her legs were safe.

Blue looked down at the parasites. They were all scratching to get up there, crowding around the ladder. Thankfully, they had no concept of climbing, but the crewmates were still outnumbered.

The worst part, the barrier’s lights weren’t turned on yet. The parasites were crowding the electrical box on the other side of the building, which would power the lights.

Red crawled forward, looking at Cyan straight in the eye with a startled expression, “We have extra batteries in the electrical room. But…” He peered over to the Electrical door on the other side of the outpost, which was being swarmed by parasites already. “Shit. Anyone got extra batteries?”

All the crewmates searched their backpacks, no one had any.

“Everyone’s batteries are _dead?_ ”

Nods were scattered throughout the group.

Red sighed, cupping his helmet into his hands, “I’m so sorry, but… Does anyone have any ideas?”

Brown stood up and smiled, “I can distract them.”

Red looked up at him, confused. “Huh?”

Brown cracked his knuckles, “I can jump from here, and lure them all out of the base. That’ll buy you guys enough time to turn the lights on and get new batteries.”

Pink stepped forward, “Brown, I’m sorry I have to be the one to say this, but… That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard you say!” They yelled, tugging at his arm sleeve.

Red took a deep breath, “Someone has to do it. If we can’t, we’ll have to think of something good.”

Stares were exchanged throughout the crew, as no one had anything else to say. Luring the parasites away with Brown was their best option, unfortunately.

“I’ll come back,” Brown promised. He looked down at Blue, “I _will_ come back!” Even though he was about to sacrifice himself for the lives of the entire crew, he still had a fierce smile on his face, which Blue couldn’t understand.

“Brown…” Green mumbled, coming closer to the edge of the roof, “Don’t do this…”

“I have to,” proclaimed Brown, “I’m doing this for you, and the crew. I promise, I’ll be back safe. I’m an excellent runner.” He turned around and looked at all the crewmates with nostalgia in his eyes, and then looked at Red. “Once the parasites are far enough away, get to the electrical box, and get your batteries. I’ll come back.”

Before he was about to jump off the building across the swarm of parasites, Blue stopped him, pulling him back down.

“You were going to say something to me earlier. What was it?” Blue asked.

Brown smirked, “Oh yeah, here. Let me hook up to your receiver.”

Brown said something into his microphone that the other crewmates couldn’t hear, and then laughed. He stood up, and started talking through the group receiver again. “I hope that answers your question.”

Blue was silent, with a shocked expression on his face.

Brown took a few steps back, built up momentum, then leaped off the roof onto the ground. He was, surprisingly, perfectly fine, and got up on his feet immediately. The parasites turned around from the building, sensing Brown’s presence behind them.

“Parasites!” Brown howled, backing up past the gate, “Follow me!”

He sprinted away from the outpost buildings, and the parasites followed. All of them, in one huge wave, left as fast as they arrived. Blue watched as Brown ran down the hills and lured the parasites far, far away. He watched until he couldn’t see him anymore, as he ran into the fields of evaporating steam and darkness. He hoped to God that Brown would come back safely.

This gave the crew some time to refill on batteries and start guarding the base again, and it gave Red some time to climb back down and flip the switch on the electrical box, illuminating all the barrier lights.

It was a beautiful sight for all of the crewmates, and it meant victory.


	20. Mission Accomplished?

—— 9 DAYS LATER, MONDAY, 3:54 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

The week following the Battle for Polus, (as the crewmates liked to call it), was relieving to some people, painful to others. The parasites no longer came close to the outpost, knowing the lights would kill them immediately, and the crewmates no longer came close to the parasite habitats, knowing they didn’t want to incite another war. Thus, creating a natural harmony between the two. Red had thought up plans to create a lava moat encircling the outpost, but he figured that he would let the crewmates rest, instead of starting construction right after a tiring fight.

Yellow looked up from her desk, sighed, and closed her laptop. It had been a long day of research, and she was barely making any progress with learning the chemical compounds of parasidium. It was also no help that Neon had left her in there all alone to take a snack break.

“Need to get out of here?” A comforting voice behind her asked. It was all too familiar.

Yellow spun her head around, “Hey, Cy!” She cheered happily, getting up from her seat.

“Come on, Orange and Black wanna play Mario Kart, and we need four players for it to be fun,” Cyan begged, waving at Yellow to follow her. 

Yellow joyfully bounced and caught up with Cyan, stomping against the hard tunnel floor.

“Hey, can I talk to you about something?” Cyan asked politely, making it clear that she was serious.

Yellow was curious. “Sure,” she replied.

“When this mission is over…” Cyan paused, “I’ll have to go back to Canada.”

Yellow sighed, “Yeah…”

Cyan continued, “Mira’s next mission is not until 2062. I really wanna come back as a co-captain, but… In that time, I have to go back and take care of my sister, you know. Use my funds to support her disease research.”

Yellow stayed quiet, looking down in disappointment.

“I mean, we can text and video call!” Cyan suggested, trying to lighten the mood, “But… We’ll be a country apart.”

Yellow turned her head and smiled, “Well, in that case, I’m coming with you.”

Cyan let out a puff of laughter and shook her head, not thinking Yellow was actually serious. “I know we made that promise, Yellow, but…”

“I’ve talked to my dad about it,” Yellow interrupted, “He said I could go with you.”

“What?” Cyan gasped, a smile growing between her lips. “Are you serious?”

“Yes!” Yellow chirped, grinning with joy, “I want to help Azure, too.”

Cyan started crying in excitement, and lifted Yellow up from the ground in a hug. “Thank you! Thank you! Oh, sorry,” she set her back down, “Are you serious?! Are you really gonna come with me?”

Yellow nodded, “Of course.”

Cyan giggled, “You’re the best space girlfriend I could ever ask for.”

Yellow laughed, a cocky smirk widening on her face, “I know.”

—— 5:08 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

Days had passed since Brown lured the parasites away, assuring victory in their battle. But, he had, unfortunately, not come back yet. Blue ordered searches for any remains or clues to where he could be, but nothing was promising.

Blue sat on one of the benches in the lobby, taking in the view of stars outside of the ship’s door. He was expecting Silver and Gold to come back, scouting the land for any signs of Brown.

Pink and Green entered through the door. They gave Blue friendly waves, and sat down next to him.

“So…” Pink smiled, looking off into the sky.

“So.” Blue said, spacing off. He saw two crewmates come in from the hills and open the gate, walking back to the dropship. “They’re here.”

They both stood up, watching Silver and Gold head back, but there was no Brown. Blue sighed, about to sit back down, but something in Silver’s arms caught his eye.

Scraps of brown fabric. Nylon, to be exact, stained with something dark and red. On top of those scraps, shattered glass, presumably from Brown’s helmet.

Immediately, a pit started to grow in Blue’s stomach, growing deeper as Silver came closer.

“Blue…” Silver sighed, “This is all that we could find. I’m so, so sorry.”

Blue took a closer look. He lifted his hand, about to touch the scraps, but he stopped. “Was there anything near these?”

“There were footsteps,” Gold spoke, “Lots of them. Signs of distress, but… If his helmet was shattered, that means…”

Blue took a deep breath, “I understand.”

Silver and Gold then walked past them, exiting through the lobby door, leaving the three of them all alone.

“I’m so sorry, Green,” Blue sniffed, rubbing on Green’s back, “I can’t imagine… Losing your brother.”

Green breathed in, “Yeah.” He started walking towards the locker room, “I’m going upstairs, to take my mind off things. See ya guys…”

Pink then looked up at Blue curiously, “Hey, Blue…”

“Yeah?”

“What was it that Brown said to you, before he left?”

Blue chuckled, becoming nervous to speak up. He took a long pause, “Well… He said that… He loved me.”

Pink gasped, “Oh, Blue…” They wrapped their arms around him tight, trying to comfort him the best way they knew how.

“No, Pink, it’s fine…” Blue assured, “I’m just glad I saw that smile… And that he was happy to sacrifice himself for the crew. I can rest easy knowing that he did that… To keep us all safe.”

—— 8:44 PM, MIRA HQ TIME

Peach exited the Laboratory building, heading back to the dropship. _I’m probably late for dinner…_ She thought, starting to walk even faster. Her mouth salivated as she thought of food. Even though the rest of the crew thought their food was mediocre at best, Peach adored it. After four years of eating parasites and leaves, a prepackaged Mira dinner every night was like a dream come true.

Peach climbed up the ramp, and before going inside, she noticed a bright light in her peripheral vision. She turned around, and was immediately struck with the most beautiful comet she had ever seen. Zinso’s Comet.

She ran across the lobby and quickly swiped her keycard, running through the door and up the stairs to the cafeteria. Everyone in the crew was joyously eating dinner, but stopped to turn their heads at the energetic Peach.

“Guys, you have to come see this!” She exulted, begging everyone to come follow her.

The crew put their helmets back on, and followed Peach back downstairs. As people flooded in, they came closer to the edge of the ship. Heads looked up in awe, as the comet rocketed through the sky in bright colors. Hues of red, purple, blue, and even green smeared across the black sky, illuminating everything with a glow.

“Oohs,” and “Ahhs,” were heard, as people couldn’t take their eyes off the beautiful sight.

“This is why I became an astronaut,” Black gushed, bumping Orange in the arm, “To see stuff like this.”

“You don’t see stuff this cool on Earth!” Orange laughed.

Silver turned her head and smiled, and then looked back at the sky. “Well, kid, you still have hundreds of missions to go on, you know. This isn’t the last time you’ll see a comet.”

Red couldn’t keep his eyes off of the sky, as the bright comet left spots in his vision. “Wow,” he marveled, “After not even three full months of endless fighting with a species of aliens, this view is rewarding as hell.”

  
  
  


**THE END**

  
  
  


(for now 😈)

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Make sure to leave a kudos and a comment if you’d like! :)
> 
> Also, I might add more chapters and continue the story once more Among Us game updates are released. Let me know if you want more!


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